No fines issued on South Island's only carpool lane two years after opening

Nicole Mathewson Reporter from Northern Outlook

From reporter Carly Gooch:

Motorists have been driving South Island’s only motorway with a designated carpool lane for more than two years – but no fines have been issued to drivers breaking the rules.

That’s because travelling on the Christchurch Northern Corridor (CNC) motorway’s T2 lane has no infringement attached to it – yet.

“At this stage we are not doing any enforcement on the CNC T2 lane”, Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency regional relationships director James Caygill said.

The T2 lane, also known as a transit or carpool lane, was implemented just weeks after the new motorway opened in December 2020, and is from the end of the motorway on State Highway 1 south of Woodend to the Cranford St roundabout.

Only vehicles with at least one passenger and motorcyclists are entitled to use the T2 lane (the right-hand lane on the southbound side of the northern corridor) between 6am and 9am on weekdays. Outside those hours, the lane can be used by anyone.


Caygill said Waka Kotahi currently had no cameras in place to enforce the lanes.

“We are working towards getting this technology in place.”

He said in the coming months, research would be carried out on the T2 lane and Waka Kotahi would “let the public know ... how the T2 lanes work and a heads-up on enforcement so people will not be surprised”.


Monitoring showed some drivers were not sticking to the T2 rules, “but when you consider both lanes, the majority of drivers are doing the right thing and obeying the law”, he said.

“Last week there were 1154 vehicles on average in the T2 lane over the three-hour period it was operational (6am to 9pm each weekday). There were 1741 vehicles on average in the other lane over the same time period. Each lane on the motorway should be able to carry about 1000 vehicles per hour without significant congestion.”

At this stage, there was no “significant travel time advantage” in either lane.

“It is also likely that there would be little travel time advantage if the lanes were being enforced.”


Transit lanes, commonplace around the world and in the North Island, will only become more familiar to more South Island travellers.

T2 lanes will also be used on the upgraded Brougham St, SH76 (Sydenham/Addington/Waltham) project currently under way.

These restricted traffic lanes will most likely be active during peak times between 7am to 9am, and 3pm to 6pm for the exclusive use of buses, motorcyclists, and cars with a driver and one or more passenger. 


The T2 lanes will run from Spencer St to near Brisbane St eastbound and from east of Colombo St to past Selwyn St westbound. However, the road will be set up so these lanes can be extended if and when needed.