My Account
Bus and ferry fares will go up from February 10, which will have an impact on local commuters.
Auckland Transport (AT) reviews fares each year to ensure they keep pace with operating costs and so that the correct portion of costs is recovered from passenger fares. This time around, AT says part of the work on the fare review was about how to support the shift from travel in cars to public transport and active modes. Putting up a large number of the public transport fares is the result.
Public transport is paid for through passenger fares and subsidies from Auckland Council and the NZ Transport Agency.
In the press release announcing the fare increases, AT chief executive Shane Ellison says a small fare increase is needed as additional revenue generated by growth is insufficient to meet the costs of providing public transport services.
“We see fares as an important ingredient to getting more people out of cars and into public transport and so we will continue to look at ways we can further reduce the real cost of public transport for our customers in the coming years,” Mr Ellison says.
“Operating a public transport system in a growing city like Auckland means that the costs do increase as we put on more services. It’s a balance for AT to provide an extensive public transport system that has enough capacity for a growing city, but we also know that cost is a major factor in how people travel, so we’ve found efficiencies in order to keep the fare increase at an average of 1.9 percent. This is well below the inflationary pressures associated with providing public transport.”
Increases have been made to most HOP card fares; while most adult cash fares remain unchanged, those for Zone 3 and 5 have gone up the most, by 50c.
Ferry fares at Gulf Harbour have gone up by 20c for tertiary HOP cardholders (the adult HOP ferry fare has dropped by 10c) and the HOP Outer Harbour Monthly pass has increased by $5 to $330.
