Blow up dolls and Auckland traffic

What do North Shore residents do with inflatable dolls?
Reuters is sending a story around the world, claiming New Zealand drivers are using blow-up dolls to beat traffic rules.It comes, believe it or not, from a North Shore city media release.
Apparently, to get into the express lanes on the North Shore, people are packing their cars with imaginary friends, all different kinds of them. And some of them are inflatable.

TV3

I can confirm that this unlikely story is in fact true.

The Onewa Rd transit lane can be used by motorcycles, buses and any vehicle with three or more occupants. Travelling down it can shorten you journey by as much as half an hour.

My secretary favours insisting that the kids come along for the ride if we have to go down this road between 6:30am and 9am on a weekday morning. He who earns money favours leaving home early enough to avoid the start of the restrictions or by having co-workers in the car.

Carpooling isn't just about subsidising the cost of the petrol in this neck of the woods.

Methods others have tried without success include the use of the blow up dolls as mentioned above, Pink Panthers, shop mannequins and even dressed up large dogs.

I have see some of these with my own eyes from the safety of my cat carrier. (We will not mention the VET word or the incident that caused that journey).

The most successful method was a pair of teenaged boys who hired themselves out as passengers from the bus stop outside Zion Hill church and got out of the car at Lake Rd last year during the holidays. They could manage 3 or 4 trips at $5 each every morning depending on the number of drivers with money and how fast they could run back up the hill.

Of course blow up dolls etc are not the only strange things to been seen travelling down this frequently grid locked road. It is a favoured spot for aspiring mayoral candidate during local elections to wave placards while wearing wedding dresses..........here

Sometimes I really have to wonder about the wisdom of living on the 'Shore.