Tauranga City Council is currently responsible for approximately 530 km of roads, 700 km of footpaths, cycle ways and access ways. Tauranga City Council also has a bit of work under way with their Transportation and Roads strategy. Their aim for the future to change current
travel behaviour from a focus on private cars to more sustainable modes such as buses, cycling and walking.
Air Tauranga Airport is served by
Air New Zealand with flights to Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch.
Sunair is based in Tauranga, operating a fleet of
light aircraft. Sunair operates from
Tauranga Airport to
Whangarei,
Claris,
Whitianga and
Mōtītī Island.
Barrier Air also operates from Tauranga to Great Barrier Island.
Rail Tauranga has no passenger rail network, however it is a busy freight rail hub due to distribution from the Port of Tauranga.
Tauranga railway station Tauranga is located on the
East Coast Main Trunk Railway (ECMT). It had a passenger station from 1924 to 1986, from the start of the ECMT at
Hamilton. There was also a small station in the centre of town at Strand, finally closed in 2001. Although regular passenger services have ended, it is one of
KiwiRail's busiest lines, with up to 86 goods trains a week between
MetroPort Auckland and Tauranga (Sulphur Point and
Mount Maunganui). Of the original buildings, the 1927 cargo shed is the only one to survive.
History William Hall Jones, the
Minister of Works visited Tauranga in 1906 and said he'd decided a railway must come to Tauranga. It took another 22 years to complete. The Tauranga-
Matatā railway, was built by the
Public Works Department (PWD) and opened in stages; Maunganui-
Te Puke opened on 16 October 1913, extended to
Paengaroa by April 1917, to
Matatā about late July 1917, to
Awakeri on 12 November 1923 and the Te Maunga to Tauranga section on Friday, 20 June 1924. The whole ECMT, from Auckland to
Tāneatua, was opened at the Strand on Wednesday 28 March 1928 by the Prime Minister,
Gordon Coates, and transferred from PWD to
New Zealand Railways (NZR) on 18 June 1928 for the
Tahawai-Tauranga section and Tauranga-Tāneatua, on 2 September 1928. In 1913 a temporary railway wharf was built, but then it wasn't until 1923 that a station and wharf accommodation were mentioned. In 1925 an engine shed was built and, when the railway fully opened in 1928, there was a platform, cart approach, x goods shed, loading bank, cattle and sheep yards,
turntable, engine shed, 50-ton coal store, passing loop for 68 wagons, 6,000 gallon water vats with 9 inch hose pipes at each end of the station and a
traverser at the wharf. Sometimes the wharf was too busy and ships had to wait. In March 1965
Poranui was the last
Northern Steamship Co coaster to visit the Railway Wharf. After the
Tauranga Harbour Bridge was built in 1988 only small ships could reach the wharf.
Refreshment rooms opened on 5 December 1928. They were long with a x counter room, x and kitchen, stores, staff, milk, ham, fuel and lumber rooms. The roof had
Marseilles tiles and the wide verandah matched that of the station, with a total length of . Although passenger services ended in 1967, the rooms remained in 1969, to cater for the
Road Services.
Railway houses were built; in 1910 an 8-roomed house and
platelayers' cottages, 1921 a house, 1922 the
stationmaster's house and 4 houses, 1925 2, 1926 cottages 1928 20 houses and state houses in 1953 (2), 1955 (6) and 1956 (7). Passenger services ended on 11 September 1967 and the main station was demolished in 1986.The 1927 cargo shed remains and was refurbished as an events venue in 2023. File:Cargo_Shed_and_SS_Korowai.jpg|Railway Wharf, Cargo Shed and
SS Korowai in 1954. Strand station is background left File:Tauranga_railway_station_in_1968.jpg|Tauranga railway station in 1968 File:Tauranga_railway_station_in_1976.jpg|Station in 1976 File:Tauranga train bridge.jpg|Tauranga railway bridge File:00 2023 Tauranga (New Zealand) - Herries Park and Railway station.jpg|alt= East Coast Main Trunk Railway station in Tauranga City|A
KiwiRail train on the East Coast Main Trunk Railway which runs through the central city.
Strand railway station Strand railway station wasn't included in the original plans for the line and wasn't shown in the 1924 timetable, but by March 1928 it had a platform and cart approach and, by the handover to NZR in September, it also had a station building. On 22 May 1978 it was noted that it had no building and on Saturday 24 June 1978 it closed to all traffic. when "Tauranga station was built on the site of the old Strand station". File:The_Strand_c._1922.jpg|
ss Matangi and Strand in 1923 File:The_Strand_c_1927.jpg|Strand c 1927 File:Strand_railway_station.jpg|Strand in 1954
Matapihi Railway Bridge Tauranga Harbour Bridge, now known as
Matapihi Railway Bridge, No.71, is long. It spans the
Waimapu Estuary on 14 x 85 ton spans of , with 250,628 rivets, the last being ceremoniously driven in on 25 February 1924. It rests on 15 cylinders, of to . The east end is straight, transitioning to a curve. At its highest point the bridge is above high water mark. Nearly of concrete and 100 tons of steel were used in the piers and abutments and 1,200 tons of steel in the girders. A warm water spring was found in construction. The first pier had been built by 1916. In 1918 the
New Zealand Herald questioned whether delays were due to wartime steel shortages, or money saving. It wasn't until Sunday, 1 June 1924 that the bridge opened. or being hit by trains.
Bus Main transportation in the city is provided by the BayBus, with twelve routes servicing the city's population. Bay Hopper buses depart the central stops in Tauranga's CBD, Ohauiti, Mount Maunganui and Bayfair every 15 minutes, with the routes to Papamoa and Greerton half-hourly.
Bee Cards were introduced for fares on 27 July 2020. The city is also a waypoint for bus travel between cities, with the Bay Hopper, and Intercity having a daily schedule.
Sea Tauranga has a passenger ferry service that transports passengers from Tauranga CBD to Mount Maunganui's Salisbury wharf. It is a 2-Way service that costs
$15 each way. ==Education==