Auckland's mayor is celebrating Auckland Transport being stripped of many of its powers

Changes in force from mid-next year will see the mayor and councillors given responsibility for major roads and the city centre, while local boards will have oversight of local roads.

Wayne Brown says democratic accountability has finally returned.

He says he collects hundreds of emails from residents concerned about things like yellow lines, and he doesn't want that.

He says local boards can deal with that, to keep them occupied.