This compares with 2024, when 6522 tickets (totalling $978,300) were issued for bus lane misuse, with 3116 tickets (totalling $467,400) from Hewletts Rd.

Each bus lane breach incurred a $150 fine.

Tauranga MP Sam Uffindell has urged NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA) to transform the Hewletts Rd/ SH2 bus lanes into transit lanes to reduce congestion.

A transit lane can only be used by passenger service vehicles, motorcycles, mopeds, cycles, and motor vehicles carrying a specified minimum number of persons – generally T2 for vehicles carrying two or more people, or T3 for three-plus people.

Hewletts Rd is an NZTA-managed road.

In March last year, Uffindell wrote to NZTA calling for the change. The NZTA board agreed managed lanes on Hewletts Rd/SH2 were a priority that needed to be accelerated, and said T3 lanes were being considered.

Uffindell told the Bay of Plenty Times NZTA should “move with more urgency” to address this challenge.

“People are calling for it, and NZTA needs to deliver,” he said.

“My message to people using the bus lanes is that it’s not acceptable to breach road rules, but it does highlight the frustration people share with the poor utilisation and performance of Hewletts Rd.”

NZTA said the agency was still considering the proposal to alleviate congestion.

An announcement was expected early this year, it said.

Council transport system operations manager Shane Heard said special vehicle lanes, including bus lanes, were clearly marked with signage, road markings and green surfaces, making them easily distinguishable from standard traffic lanes.

“Vehicles turning are allowed to enter a bus lane 50 metres before making their turn.”

Heard said the drop in infringements last year likely reflected “positive behaviour” resulting from regular enforcement and growing public awareness of how these lanes were intended to operate.

One hundred and fifty-three infringement notices (totalling $15,300) were issued for illegal use of cycle lanes across the city last year, which included drivers being fined for illegally parking or stopping briefly in a cycle lane waiting for a parking space.

This was a 72% increase from the 89 tickets issued in 2024, to the value of $6740. The fine increased from $60 to $100 on October 1, 2024.

In February last year, a Mount Maunganui couple were fined $100 for temporarily parking in a cycle lane along Marine Parade while waiting for a car park, and unsuccessfully challenged the ticket.

Tauranga City Council acting head of transport Karen Hay said parking or driving on cycle lanes was “dangerous”.

“It forces cyclists into traffic, makes them less visible and increases the risk of crashes.

“Cycle lanes existed to give people on bikes and scooters a dedicated, safe space – blocking them puts everyone at risk.”

Between January 1, 2024 and November 27 last year, the council received about 35 complaints about vehicles parked illegally in cycle lanes, cycle paths and cycleways, the council said.

“Our parking officers respond to these complaints as promptly as possible and if the reported vehicle is parked illegally when they attend, an infringement notice will be issued.”

The council said it did not record the number of appeals lodged against cycle lane infringement notices.

Sandra Conchie is a senior journalist at the Bay of Plenty Times and Rotorua Daily Post who has been a journalist for 25 years. She mainly covers police, court and other justice stories, as well as general news. She has been a Canon Media Awards regional/community reporter of the year.