Free public transport fares for kids under-12 and half-price discounts for under-25s in Auckland and Wellington will end on April 30, local councils have confirmed.
It comes after the new Government axed funding for the concessions, first introduced last July. However, the change will not affect pre-existing discounts funded directly by councils, which usually include concessions for tertiary and secondary school students.
It will also not affect other Community Connect discounts introduced by the previous government, which Transport Minister Simeon Brown has opted to keep.
Both councils will make changes to their youth fares by May 1.
Auckland Transport said both free travel for people aged five to 12-years-old and half-price travel for 13 to 24-year-olds will end.
The changes are expected to impact around 200,000 registered AT HOP card users.
Meanwhile in Wellington, MetLink said children aged five to 16, or older if still at secondary school, will pay half the adult fare.
Fares for people aged 17 to 24 in Wellington will return to full price – unless they qualify for an alternative tertiary or Community Connect concession.
Children under five in Wellington will continue to ride free and will be able to do so in Auckland too when they are accompanied by another passenger.
Wellington transport committee chair Thomas Nash said the change will be felt by people across the region.
“I don’t want to end these concessions – we know they have made a big difference to people,” Nash said.
“We want to maintain existing services and reliability, but we just can’t afford to cover the cost of the concessions ourselves if we want to grow the network, especially with uncertainty around public transport funding from the new government.
“At more than $10 million per year, it would require an additional rate increase beyond the 19.8% we’re currently proposing for the regional council.”
In Auckland, AT group manager of growth and optimisation Richard Harrison said many under 25s will qualify for alternative concessions, such as child, secondary, tertiary and community connect.
“We will automatically transition a customer’s concession to the most beneficial one where we have the necessary data. However, there will still be customers who need to reapply, especially those in tertiary education,” he said.
“We will be directly contacting impacted customers throughout today with next steps about how they can apply for a new concession, if eligible.”
Harrison said teams at AT did investigate continuing the discounts, but at a cost of $61.5 million, it was not deemed possible without the support of the central government.
In its December mini-budget, the Coalition Government gave councils 90-days notice that it would stop funding the concessions. It has also told councils it will help cover the costs of removing the two age-based discounts from fare collection systems.
Christchurch had previously said free travel for under-13s would be expiring in Christchurch, however half-price fares for young people would continue, meaning ticket prices would "mostly stay the same".
Auckland, what you need to know:
- Fares are increasing for those between 5-24 years old
- If you or your children are between 5-15 years old and have a registered AT HOP card with the correct date of birth, you don’t need to do anything. You should continue to tag on and tag off with your HOP card when travelling to receive a child concession (at least 40% off an adult fare).
- If you are between 16-24 years old you may be eligible for a cheaper fare if you are a secondary student, full-time tertiary student, community services card holder, Blind Low Vision NZ or total mobility card holder.
- If your children are between 0-4 they can continue to travel for free when accompanied by another passenger.
- Free child weekends continue for children aged 5-15.
- Customers should ensure that they are tagging on and off buses, trains and ferries with their AT HOP card.
Wellington, what you need to know:
- Children aged 5 to 16, or older if still at secondary school, will pay half the adult fare.
- Fares for people aged 17 to 24 will return to full price, unless they qualify for an alternative tertiary or Community Connect concession.
- Under 5s will continue to travel for free on all services.
SHARE ME