Tauranga man Brian Hooper reckons he’s saying what everyone around town is thinking – the bus lanes on Cameron Rd turning left on to 15th Ave are confusing.

Hooper, who admits he recently moved into the city after living rurally, had found Tauranga’s drivers are using the bus lanes turning left on to 15th Ave differently – and there’s no standard manoeuvre.

“Everyone seems to be doing it different,” said the 79 year-old. “I notice some drivers use that [left turning/bus] lane 100m before the traffic lights.” But he thought you could only turn 30m before the intersection.

Reading news articles about “thousands of dollars” in fines collected from people using bus lanes incorrectly in Auckland, Hooper wanted to find out how to use the Cameron Rd bus lanes at 15th Ave without getting into trouble. He feared he could receive fines for “a silly reason” or a “simple mistake”.

When approached by the Weekend Sun, Tauranga City Council city centre infrastructure lead Shawn Geard was keen to provide clarity around the bus lanes on Cameron Rd.

Geard said the council was yet to further engage with the community on Cameron Rd bus lane use – work which would be done later this year – and as a result the bus lanes were not operational and no fines would be issued for the meantime.

Bus lanes on Cameron Rd are marked but not yet operational. Photo / Brydie Thompson

Geard said Cameron Rd’s new bus lanes were marked out when the project was constructed late-2023, however, a decision was made to defer introduction of use of the bus lanes to address nearby business concerns and offer parking relief.

“While not applicable to Cameron Rd until the bus lanes are operational, the New Zealand Road Code states that general vehicles may enter a bus lane for a maximum of 50m before turning left or accessing driveways and parking,” Geard said. “There is often a tolerance on this for enforcement purposes.”

However, Hooper said: “I can’t understand why they’ve got these lines [marked bus lanes].

“I’m pretty reluctant to go in there. I would have thought there’d be some signage up or something?”

There are signs erected for bus lane use, but they don’t face the road or traffic.

Geard said council acknowledged the markings could be confusing for motorists, and particularly for people who were new to the city and didn’t know the bus lanes were not operational yet.

“In the meantime, signs with bus lane times are covered and/or turned away from the road and the existing parking limit signs remain in place.”

Tauranga resident Brian Hooper is worried misuse of the bus lanes will result in fines. Photo / Brydie Thompson

Geard said for now the yellow diagonal ‘no stopping’ lines “enable buses to move easily from the left-hand side bus stop to the right-hand turn at intersections”.

“When the bus lanes are operational, they will also work in conjunction with traffic signals on outreach arms.”

The idea was to give buses a green light first, allowing them to effectively “jump” in front of a traffic queue at the main signalised intersections, Geard said.

“This allows buses to get ahead, preventing traffic being held up behind them as they pull in and out to collect and deliver passengers.”

He said that there is one exception for the yellow diagonal “no stopping” lines along Cameron Rd, and that is outside Tauranga Fire Station, where access was kept available for fire engines leaving the station during emergencies.

A NZ Police spokesperson said when out on the road, police officers were actively watching drivers using bus lanes legally, as well as looking for any other unsafe driving behaviour.

“If our officers see breaches, they respond accordingly.”