The $1.4 billion Waterview Tunnel in Auckland is beginning to pay off, with new data revealing it shaves 20 minutes off the drive time from the Southern Motorway into the city's CBD.
More than 400,000 vehicles are using the tunnel each week and 6.6 million trips have been recorded since it opened on July 2, the Weekend Herald has reported.
Its widespread use has led to some dramatic cuts on other in-demand routes in the Auckland transport network; including on the Southern Motorway, where a trip into the CBD from Papakura on a weekday is now taking on average just 49 minutes, down from up to 70 minutes before the tunnel opened.
Travel on State Highway 1 had dropped by around 7 per cent, with a growing number of motorists opting to now travel on SH20 and SH16.
However, motorists need to ease up on the accelerator - police figures released recently showed that almost $1 million had been collected in speed camera fines in and out of the tunnel in the first six weeks it was in use.
The four speed cameras at each entrance and exit of the tunnel issued 9756 infringement notices between July 21, the day the cameras went live, and August 31.
The total fees generated by the cameras was $948,220.
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