Smarter traffic insights help Auckland plan a more connected and efficient city
Success Story
Auckland Transport, the agency responsible for delivering safe and efficient travel for 1.6 million residents, faced growing challenges managing a busy and evolving road network. Local data sources offered only a partial view of congestion and performance, limiting their ability to meet ambitious targets for mobility and safety.
In 2021, Auckland Transport partnered with TomTom to bring real-time and historical traffic insights into their daily planning and decision-making. TomTom data replaced fragmented datasets with consistent, accurate coverage across the city, giving Auckland Transport the tools they needed to understand and respond to network challenges more effectively.
From measuring travel times to refining peak-hour policies and evaluating major projects, TomTom data has become an essential resource for Auckland Transport. The partnership is built on collaboration and trust, with TomTom’s responsive support and ongoing product enhancements aligning with Auckland’s commitment to smarter and more sustainable travel for everyone.
Building smarter transport operations
Auckland Transport is the organization tasked with delivering safe, efficient and sustainable transport for the country’s largest city. As Auckland grows and travel patterns shift, so do the challenges of managing congestion and planning for future needs.
Historically, Auckland Transport relied on local data sources with limited coverage and granularity. These gaps made it difficult to monitor congestion trends in real time or validate project performance across the entire network. The team often had to rely on manual surveys or anecdotal feedback to fill in missing pieces of the traffic picture.
In 2021, after a detailed testing and benchmarking process, Auckland Transport selected TomTom as their traffic data partner. TomTom’s traffic analytics suite stood out for its accuracy, granularity and proven reliability, giving Auckland Transport the data they needed to make faster and more confident decisions.
Today, TomTom data is at the heart of Auckland Transport’s daily work. Teams use it to measure travel time reliability, analyze congestion patterns and support ongoing improvement projects. TomTom data helps Auckland Transport move beyond reactive traffic monitoring to a more proactive approach, where insights inform decisions before issues arise.
Smarter data, better decisions
One of the most important uses of TomTom data for Auckland Transport has been understanding how travel behavior has shifted following the COVID-19 pandemic. Questions about peak-hour patterns, peak spreading and changing commuter habits were top of mind as Auckland adjusted to new mobility trends.
With TomTom’s real-time and historical traffic data, Auckland Transport was able to analyze congestion at a corridor level, uncovering differences in peak periods across the city. In some areas, the morning rush hour started earlier, while other parts of the network saw a more even distribution of traffic throughout the day. These detailed insights helped the team refine assumptions in project planning and ensure that resources were allocated where they could have the greatest impact.
Auckland Transport also uses TomTom data to evaluate the performance of new infrastructure projects. Travel time savings are a critical component of project evaluation, and TomTom’s reliable data allows the team to measure impacts accurately. This has made cost-benefit analyses more robust and helped Auckland Transport build stronger business cases for future investments.
Supporting strategic goals
TomTom data doesn’t just support daily decision-making; it underpins Auckland Transport’s long-term goals as well. The agency has 19 strategic objectives tied to network performance, with three of them—network productivity, average people travel time and freight network congestion—directly dependent on reliable traffic data.
By using TomTom as their primary source for travel time and congestion analysis, Auckland Transport has improved the accuracy and confidence of their reporting. This supports better accountability to city leaders and the public, who rely on transparent and data-backed insights to track progress and guide investments.
Collaboration for continuous improvement
The partnership between Auckland Transport and TomTom is built on mutual trust and a shared commitment to continuous improvement. As the main owner of TomTom products within Auckland Transport, Mahdi Amiripour and his team regularly share feedback with TomTom to help shape product updates.
One example of this collaboration was Auckland Transport’s request for better access to updated map versions to support evolving analysis needs. TomTom responded by expanding access to more stable and current maps, making it easier for Auckland Transport to align data across different teams and tools.
Beyond technical improvements, Auckland Transport values TomTom’s long-term focus on traffic solutions. Knowing that TomTom continues to invest in more advanced tools and greater integration has helped Auckland Transport stay aligned with best practices globally.
Looking ahead to smarter mobility
Auckland Transport sees TomTom as a key partner in shaping the city’s future mobility. With TomTom data, the agency can confidently measure travel time performance, manage congestion more proactively and plan for long-term growth.
As Auckland Transport looks to the future, there are exciting possibilities for further collaboration, including exploring how TomTom data could support active transport modes or help model new mobility patterns. The partnership sets a benchmark for how cities can use data to drive smarter planning and deliver better travel experiences for residents and visitors alike.