Category: DJF

Source: Radio New Zealand

Explainer – If your Monday morning commute feels a little madder than usual this week, it’s not just you.

The peak transport season known as ‘March Madness’ kicks off around the country, with the University of Auckland starting its new year on 2 March and many others following suit.

“More people use Auckland’s transport network from February until early April than at any other time of year,” Auckland Transport (AT) group manager of public transport operations Rachel Cara said.

Why exactly is March Madness a thing?

It may be a couple months into the new year, but between the confluence of universities, schools and the last stragglers from holiday getaways all returning, it always puts a strain on transport systems.

“It’s basically the highest level of transport demand that exists,” director of transport advocacy website Greater Auckland Matt Lowrie told Nine to Noon recently.

“One of the things that happens is that we get lulled into a false sense of security of how easy it is when the traffic is low and during those school holidays.”

In Auckland, AT predicts more than 2 million passenger journeys each week – with buses, trains and ferries making 13,500 trips a day.

Cara said that Auckland’s “network will be the busiest on weekdays during peak times, between 7am-9am and 3pm-6pm, with Wednesdays generally the busiest weekday.”

Discounted fares for Auckland university students have also been increased this year.

“We do anticipate higher spikes during March after tertiary concessions recently changed from being 25 percent to 40 percent,” Cara said. “We’ve already seen a 25 percent uplift in trips compared to same time last year, and this is likely to rise as university students come back.”

Lowrie said “we’ve often forgotten how bad it was at this time last year because even throughout after April when March Madness normally runs through to about Easter, it does drop off for sort of the rest of the year”.

Does it happen everywhere or just in lucky old Auckland?

It’s definitely not just a JAFA thing, and is seen around the country – especially in areas with universities.

“We would definitely say March Madness is a phenomenon also experienced across Otago,” said Otago Regional Council implementation lead for transport Julian Phillips.

“Each February and March, public transport networks in Dunedin and Queenstown experience significant seasonal variations in demand at peak times.”

Like everywhere else, school, university study and returns from summer leave add up to put pressure on networks, he said.

“Travel patterns, particularly for school students, also take a few weeks to settle as families establish new routines.”

Wellington also has a busy month ahead.

“We expect patronage to lift on Metlink buses, trains, and ferries during March,” Metlink senior manager of operations Paul Tawharu said.

Wellington reached 2.6 million bus boardings in March 2025, he said.

How do transport agencies prepare for it?

Auckland has added larger buses on 37 popular routes, an additional eight school bus services for Term 1, and has “banker” buses ready to deploy as needed.

Higher load services include the NX1 on the Northern Busway, which offers 3300 seats per hour capacity during peak time.

In Otago, “we are closely monitoring services, adjusting vehicle allocations where possible, and prioritising high-demand routes to support customers,” said Phillips.

“We appreciate passengers’ patience during this peak period and remain focused on getting everyone to their destinations safely and on time.”

The long-awaited $5.5 billion Auckand City Rail Link (CRL), the country’s most expensive transport infrastructure, is expected to open later this year, and AT is gearing up for it.

“With new trains arriving ahead of CRL we are now operating over 40 peak trips, including school trips with six-car trains,” Cara said.

However, the rail network is still expected to face some periodic shutdowns as CRL work and testing continues this year.

“These will be limited to weekends and public holidays as much as possible, however we are asking Aucklanders to be prepared for longer closures in the April school holidays,” Auckland Transport director of public transport and active modes Stacey van der Putten told RNZ.

Once the CRL is fully up to speed, she said it will make a difference for March Madness and madness all the rest of the year.

“It is expected to lead to less congestion on our roads, than if it had not been built, based on analysis at the business case stage.”

The CRL will allow easier access by train and improved connections, van der Putten said.

“This will benefit those who do need to drive by reducing congestion, delays and wear and tear.

“The reason we invest in better public transport is to attract more choice users – this frees roads up to be used by people who genuinely need them.”

Is there any way I can avoid all this traffic madness?

If you’re driving, take the extra volumes into account.

“Plan ahead and allow extra time,” Cara said.

In Auckland, the AT Journey Planner app can help plan your trip. Other local apps or Google and Apple maps can also be useful.

“If possible, car-pool with family, friends or colleagues so you can travel on T2 and T3 lanes to reduce journey times and help disperse traffic,” she said.

In Wellington, Tawharu said public transport can ease the pain.

“We encourage our region’s commuters to reduce congestion and transport emissions by leaving their cars at home and catching Metlink services.”

Greater Wellington also has an annual Movin’ March programme, in partnership with local councils and primary schools, celebrating the benefits of walking, scooting and biking to school.

With packed buses and trains, Cara said being considerate will go a long way – and don’t forget to tag on and off with your payment or AT HOP card.

“Please be patient. You may need to wait for the next bus on our high frequency corridors.

“If standing on a busy bus or train carriage, move down as far as possible, filling every seat to create as much room as possible for more people to get on board. Do not leave belongings on the seat next to you and move down in buses and train carriages to create space for others.”

It’s not required, but it doesn’t hurt to thank the driver too as you leave. After all, for them, March Madness can often feel like it runs the whole year long.

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

LiveNews: https://nz.mil-osi.com/2026/03/01/how-march-madness-may-make-your-monday-morning-commute-longer/

Source: Radio New Zealand

A search is underway for a man swept off rocks south of Auckland’s Piha.

The man was fishing at Karekare’s Union Bay when he was swept away, a police spokesperson said.

The incident was reported about 10.15am on Sunday, and searchers were sent from police, Coastguard and Surf Lifesaving.

But by 1.45pm the man had not been found, the spokesperson said.

Surf Lifesaving New Zealand (SLSNZ) said the man was washed away at Farley Point: “A witness to the incident raised the alarm with surf lifeguards from Karekare Surf Life Saving Club.”

Lifeguards searched the area between Karekare Beach and Mercer Bay using four rescue watercraft/jetskis and an inflatable rescue boat, while the Piha search and rescue squad was also sent. However lifeguards had been stood down at 1pm, SLSNZ said.

Further searches were expected to be carried out at low tide.

It comes after the body of a kayaker was found in Auckland’s Waiwera on Sunday.

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

LiveNews: https://nz.mil-osi.com/2026/03/01/search-on-for-fisherman-swept-away-near-piha/

Source: Radio New Zealand

– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

LiveNews: https://nz.mil-osi.com/2026/03/01/how-to-dads-jordan-watson-cheap-and-cheerful-is-whats-worked-for-me/

Source: Radio New Zealand

Lanes on Auckland’s Northwestern Motorway have now reopened following a serious crash.

An RNZ reporter said one car was wrecked in the Sunday morning crash, and by 11.30am traffic was built up as far as Hobsonville Rd.

Police said one person was seriously injured in the two-vehicle collision and two lanes had been closed.

By 2pm, all lanes had reopened.

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

LiveNews: https://nz.mil-osi.com/2026/03/01/lanes-cleared-after-serious-crash-blocked-aucklands-northwestern-motorway/

Source: Radio New Zealand

The body of a kayaker missing near Auckland’s Waiwera has been found.

The man was seen coming out of his kayak, but then did not surface, and emergency services were called about 7.30am on Sunday, a police spokesperson said.

Police officers, the police Eagle helicopter team, Surf Lifesaving NZ lifeguards and Coastguard members responded immediately.

A police spokesperson said the man’s body was found on Sunday afternoon.

Police were providing his family with support and the death would be referred to the Coroner.

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

LiveNews: https://nz.mil-osi.com/2026/03/01/body-of-kayaker-who-went-missing-in-aucklands-waiwera-found/

Source: Radio New Zealand

Two people have been seriously injured in an assault after a car did burnouts in a rural road in the Waikato town of Matangi, police say.

The attack happened on Saturday night after the dark-coloured Ford Falcon was seen doing “noisy” doughnuts, a police spokesperson said.

“Two people were trying to speak to the occupants … Three occupants got out [of the car] and assaulted the victims.

“It was a cowardly attack and the two victims were seriously injured.”

Both victims required hospital treatment, police said.

The car was a dark-coloured Ford Falcon sedan.

“If you witnessed the incident, have CCTV footage or dashcam footage of Marychurch Road around 8pm last night, then please contact Police,” they said.

“Anyone that has information on the people pictured or details of a dark-coloured Ford Falcon should contact 105 either over phone or online by clicking ‘Update Report’. Please use file number 260301/0526.”

Information could also be supplied via Crimestoppers, by calling 0800 555 111.

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

LiveNews: https://nz.mil-osi.com/2026/03/01/two-injured-in-serious-assault-after-burnouts-police-say/

Source: Radio New Zealand

“Last week was not a particularly fun time for the government,” The Post’s deputy political editor Henry Cooke said in his weekly wrap of the week’s politics for Stuff.

Cooke cited bad Post poll results, “coalition squabbling” scuppering a four-year term referendum, and bad headlines about possible road tolls and Wellington tunnels.

“It’s no surprise that the governing parties have been focusing on their comfort food – policy areas where they feel supremely confident,” Cooke said.

Such as… law and order.

Last Sunday the PM announced new powers for police to move on city centre rough sleepers and beggars.

That came hard on the heels of rolling back plans to intensify housing in Auckland.

Christopher Luxon told Newstalk ZB’s Mike Hosking last Monday that change came after listening to Aucklanders’ concerns. But in the same interview he said he would not take on board objections to the announcement about where people without homes should live.

Earlier the Police Association leader Steve Watt had told Newstalk ZB moving rough sleepers and beggars on was not the best use of police time.

“You sound like a social worker,” presenter Mike Hosking told Watt, who had just explained that that was the position police officers did not want to be in – dealing with beggars and rough sleepers.

Time to set the news agenda

“It’s been announced on a Sunday because the government thinks it’s a winner. It sets the political agenda. Sunday night’s news is still the most watched night of the week,” former Green MP Gareth Hughes said on RNZ’s Nine to Noon last Monday.

“The decision was made by Cabinet in December and they chose to roll out this policy at the weekend after that spat over housing intensification in Auckland,” The Post’s national affairs editor Andrea Vance said on the RNZ’s political show The Whip.

On RNZ’s Focus on Politics, reporter Giles Dexter said it had been in the political pipeline since October last year, after city business owners and workers’ complaints about anti-social behaviour.

Business group Heart of the City “reluctantly” released a scathing survey and put a full-page open letter in the Herald urging government to act.

And if leading the news last Monday was the idea, that clearly worked.

“While politics eases into a quieter phase with Parliament in recess, the week started off on a strong note for the government with an announcement on move on orders,” The Post said on Monday.

But it also drew strong criticism from social agencies and welfare experts – and some journalists.

Pushback against orders

The plan is to tweak the Summary Offences Act so police could move on those over 14-years-old displaying disorderly, disruptive, threatening or intimidating behaviour.

It would also apply to all forms of begging and rough sleeping – and even behaviour “indicating an intent to inhabit a public place”.

Those moved on would then have to leave yet-to-be specified area for 24 hours by “a reasonable distance” which would be specified by police – or face fines of up to $2000 or three months in jail.

“I think it’s a cruel policy. The police and the social services have said that it won’t fix anything,” The Post’s Andrea Vance said, condemning it as “PPP – purely performative politics”.

But fellow Whip guest Wayne Mapp – a former National Party minister – argued people occupying prime CBD space was not fair on other people – and those trying to do business there.

“I just think that this is an extra power that police can use in the Summary Offences Act when they really need it. And by golly, I’ve seen situations where it would be handy.”

The previous government was also on shaky ground.

In 2023 its associate minister for housing Marama Davidson rounded on then-opposition MP Nicola Willis when she said women feared people the streets of Wellington. But Davidson hadn’t produced a single report, briefing paper or press release on the topic.

Jenna Lynch – the political editor at Newshub – subsequently revealed her ministerial diary had only two entries related to housing for the past three months.

This week the PM copped flak for citing the sensibilities of “Chuck and Mary from the US on the cruise of a lifetime pulling into Auckland” and visitors to the just-opened Auckland Convention Centre.

Others cited the soon-to-open CRL stations – and the long suffering businesses near them who are still open.

The Prime Minister, Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith and Police Minister Mark Mitchell all said it would be up to police officers to make this work – like the gang patch ban the same ministers all cited as well.

But while wearing a gang patch is a simple judgement for police officers to make, move on orders would apply to some people who haven’t committed an offence.

The Summary Offences Act already outlaws disorderly, threatening and offensive behaviour.

“Toughen up laws and you will be amazed how quickly the problem gets solved,” Hosking told his listeners, citing the decline in ramraids over the past year.

Maybe – but only if the problem is only outside businesses in our CBDs.

Move where?

If the people with problems are moved on, the problems are likely to go with them to streets and communities and businesses further afield.

“There are large encampments now outside of town centres all over the US – and I really don’t think that’s the sort of thing that New Zealanders want to see,” Community housing Aotearoa Chief Executive Paul Gilbert told ZB news.

But ZB Drive host Heather du Plessis-Allan seemed okay with it.

“Irritate them till they find somewhere like a cemetery to go and sit where the rest of us don’t want to be. Do you know what I mean? So they can go and camp somewhere by themselves and the rest of us can use Karangahape Road,” she said this week.

Homeless encampments in city cemeteries is not quite the intensification of accommodation that anyone else had in mind.

The bigger, tougher picture.

When TVNZ’s 1News at 6pm led with the move on orders last Sunday, they noted the government had already cut the numbers of people in emergency housing and motels last year – and restricted eligibility for it.

“The National Homelessness Data Project showed homelessness in Auckland more than doubled in a year, from around 400 in 2024 to more than 900 in 2025,” viewers were told.

On his own outlet The Kaka Bernard Hickey zeroed in on the potential cost if the law change is enforced.

“Removing 3,500 people from emergency accommodation at a cost of $233 per person per night saved $156 million a year over the last 18 months for the government,” Hickey calculated.

New accommodation has been built, he said, but much of it is behind bars.

“According to Corrections, the government has helped fund and organise the creation of an extra 2,000 prison beds. They cost $552 per night. And various budget announcements in 2024 and 2025 have led to the delivery of 420 new homes and an extra 120 or so Housing First places,” Hickey said.

The Herald called the move on orders “at best a temporary fix”, which could also increase the burden on our justice and correction systems.

And it will fall to local councils and charities to cater for rough sleepers moved out of town and city centres (unless they are jailed).

Councils have already been told by the government to focus on the basics – and with future revenue restricted by capped rates.

After 8am on Wednesday morning, both RNZ’s Morning Report and the Mike Hosking Breakfast on Newstalk ZB had National and Labour MPs head-to-head arguing about who was really to blame for increased homelessness and disorder – in spite of fresh statistics showing crime and disorder was down for all of Auckland (if not just the CBD).

On his Blue Review blog, pundit Liam Hehir said the law change would move on people who are homeless, but not threatening or intimidating people – and not just in our three biggest city centres.

And police would exercise discretion in ways that inevitably won’t be consistent.

“The real task is to distinguish between conduct that threatens others and conduct that reflects hardship. The current proposal blurs that distinction and that invites uneven enforcement and erodes confidence in the law,” Hehir wrote.

It was just one opinion among many written or aired this past week – but one with a fair chance of ageing well if the suggested law change takes effect.

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

LiveNews: https://nz.mil-osi.com/2026/03/01/mediawatch-govt-moves-on-rough-sleeping-by-moving-it-on/

Source: Radio New Zealand

A serious crash has blocked eastbound traffic on Auckland’s Northwestern Motorway – State Highway 16 into the city, with drivers called to avoid the area.

An RNZ reporter said one car was wrecked in the Sunday morning crash, and by 11.30am traffic was built up as far as Hobsonville Rd.

Police said one person was seriously injured in the two-vehicle collision, and ambulance crews were at the scene.

“Only one lane is open at this time, causing traffic to build. Motorists are advised to avoid the motorway at this time, or delay travel,” the police spokesperson said.

NZTA said the crash was in the eastbound Lincoln Rd to Te Atatu Rd section of SH16, and also said drivers should avoid the area.

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

LiveNews: https://nz.mil-osi.com/2026/03/01/serious-crash-blocks-aucklands-northwestern-motorway/