The first step in redesigning bus services in Auckland has been completed, with signficant changes made to the way southern travellers will be served.
The south is the first part of the city to get a bus network overhaul, promising more frequent services, and better local connections.
Auckland Transport has spent months working with southern residents on the final design which will focus more on journeys within the area.
Public transport network manager Anthony Cross says the communities have generally approved the new plan, including a big change for journeys to central Auckland.
"People will need to catch a bus at their local stop and transfer to a train at one of several interchanges along the railway line.
"That was always going to be an issue for some people and we're really, really surprised that notwithstanding that people have responded extremely positively."
The new routes are still more than a year away, as the agency has to re-negotiate with bus companies under a complicated new contracting system.
Similar redesigns will occur in other parts of Auckland, and will need to succeed if the city is to reach the mayor's target of doubling patronage within a decade.
