Onehunga Bus Station SSBC

In 2025 and 2026, MRCagney prepared the Single Stage Business Case (SSBC) for a new Onehunga Bus Station, addressing significant safety and operational constraints at the existing facility while planning for future growth in bus services.

Onehunga is an important public transport destination and transfer hub, with around 3,000 daily bus passenger arrivals and departures and a further 700 rail passenger movements. Around 45% of public transport users arriving in Onehunga transfer to another service. However, the existing bus station on Upper and Lower Municipal Place is constrained by a lack of space, with buses regularly queuing, double-parking and using active stops for layover. The location also creates significant conflicts between buses, pedestrians and other town-centre activity.

These issues are expected to become more significant as bus frequencies increase. The existing site cannot provide the additional active stops, layover capacity, driver facilities and electric bus charging infrastructure required to support future services. Safety was also a central consideration, with recent serious crashes highlighting the risks created by bus movements within the constrained street environment.

The business case assessed alternative locations and operating approaches before refining a preferred option that relocates the customer-facing bus interchange to Onehunga Mall and Princes Street, immediately adjacent to Onehunga Train Station. A separate off-street layover facility is proposed nearby, separating operational bus activity from passenger waiting and transfer areas.

The preferred design creates a more legible and integrated interchange between bus and rail while providing the capacity needed for future service growth. It includes 19 bus layover spaces, provision for electric bus charging, driver welfare facilities, new bus stops and shelters, improved pedestrian crossings and footpaths, and changes to the surrounding street network.

The project involved working closely with the Auckland Council team delivering the Onehunga regeneration work to upgrade the town centre. Relocating the bus station enables the existing Municipal Place site to support the planned improvements to public space, a new community facility and improved walking connections.

MRCagney developed the business case through to an SSBC-level scheme design, bringing together the strategic, economic, financial, commercial and management cases alongside public transport planning, option assessment, economics and implementation planning. The preferred option was developed sufficiently to demonstrate that it is operationally feasible, buildable and capable of being consented, while providing a basis for future costing, staging and delivery.