The move to Alert Level 1 has seen a bounce back in passenger numbers on public transport.
But patronage in our main centres is still notably down on pre-Covid-19 numbers, and when or if it will return to normal remains unknown.
Commuters in our main cities today told 1 NEWS they’ve noticed it being busier since yesterday, but several are still reported travelling on fairly empty buses and trains.
At the start of Level 2 in Auckland, patronage was down close to 70 per cent, but yesterday it climbed back to being just 40 per cent down on pre-Covid levels.
There were around 200,000 commuters, with 60,000 more than on the same day last week.
In our capital city, one person told 1 NEWS the last two days have brought “back that feeling of normalcy”.
Scott Gallagher, Greater Wellington Regional Council’s public transport manager, said the increase was expected.
“Every time we've come from an alert level it's doubled on us, so this week, particularly on the bus network, we're looking about 70 per cent [compared to normal].”
Christchurch services are getting around 70 per cent of their usual numbers too.
Yesterday, 33,500 people caught the bus there, around 6000 extra passengers compared to last Tuesday.
Stewart Gibbon, Environment Canterbury’s senior manager of public transport, said he's expecting a slow recovery.
“We're quietly optimistic that in a year we'll be back to normal,” he said.
Stacey van der Putten of Auckland Transport said one of the reasons numbers are still down in Auckland is because tertiary students still aren't back.
She also puts it down to some workers being yet to return to offices.
But businesses moving out of the central city and continuing to work from home is expected to have flow-on effects.
Professor Michael Baker says New Zealanders should get used to the idea masks are needed in some circumstances.
Mr Gibbon told 1 NEWS he’s expecting their financial year will be impacted by 10 to 20 per cent.
He said while he does expect a full return to normal, “beyond this financial year should patronage not return there'll be some interesting decisions for us to make”.
Mr Gallagher agreed transportation services are in "unchartered territory" but remains confident of a recovery.
"We're just assessing each day," he said. "We know and have high confidence we'll get back to pre-Covid numbers.”
Making the idea of public transport welcoming right now is fare deals.
In Auckland there’s a 30 per cent discount on off peak fares. In Wellington there are free fares until the end of the month and in Christchurch free fares last until next week.
And there's another aspect of lockdown that Aucklanders might actually be missing that could help with public transportation's revival.
“We do know a lot of Aucklanders enjoy having quieter streets and obviously public transport is an enabler of that,” Ms van der Putten said.
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