Pakuranga Road is one of the busiest roads in the country and is often congested with traffic (even in off peak). We need a solution and Auckland Transport is proposing a transit lane.
It's intended to be just for the duration of the Eastern Busway construction which should be about 2 years.
Transit lanes like this can have a massively positive effect on getting people past congestion. A great example is Onewa Road in Northcote which carries around 80% of the people but only 40% of the traffic. It's been helped by regular bus services (now double decker) which means more people can be moved in a lot less vehicles.
How much will this hurt or help Pakuranga Road? This depends on how many people are travelling on buses or in vehicles with more than one person. I would hope that Auckland Transport have this information and I'm requesting they confirm.
Without seeing this information, it's far to early to be saying no to this. I'm cautiously optimistic that this trial might help but will require close monitoring to ensure it's successful (with any adjustments are made quickly).