Wellingtonians can expect to tap onto buses and trains with their phone or debit card by April 2026 as regional councillors push forward with a $5.5m ticketing upgrade.
Across buses and trains, the contactless system would work much the same as it does in Auckland for adults and wouldn't include concession fares such as for kids or students.
Regional councillors pushed to improve the existing system in a decision last year, with the move a sign of tensions over the delayed $1.4bn national ticketing solution (NTS).
Greater Wellington Regional Council chairperson Daran Ponter told 1News, "we have all run out of patience" waiting for NZTA's Motu Move system, and so would introduce payment through smartphone wallets and Paywave-type cards into its existing system
He said March 30 was the current expected deadline for implementing contactless.
It's the first stage of a national billion dollar plan. (Source: 1News)
"We were not getting the confidence from Waka Kotahi," Ponter said of talks last year.
"They were not able to tell us that they would definitely have the system by a particular time, and even if they had told us that, we've been told those stories so many times in the past that I'm not sure that we could have believed them."
Last year, the public and media were told that Motu Move would initially be launched in Canterbury at the end of 2024 before later rolling out in Wellington towards late 2025.
But that date was pushed out to 2026. An NZTA spokesperson said today the system was "expected to be implemented in mid-2027 and completed by the end of 2027."
Tension between NZTA and Wellington officials
Unlike in Auckland, Ponter said the Snapper improvement project was funded solely by ratepayers and would not involve joint funding from NZTA.
"To be frank, Waka Kotahi would prefer that we didn't do this," the council chair said.
"They see it as undermining their project [Motu Move] ... [But] we're frustrated because we have to turn around to our clientele, to the people who use public transport, and tell them yet again that they can't have something."
Ponter said many well-travelled Kiwis return from cities such as London, Sydney — and now even Auckland — frustrated that the capital lacked the options available elsewhere.
"[NZTA's] reaction is that it undermines the national ticketing solution, and they're probably right about that from a project management perspective.
"But do you think Johnny on the number 54 bus gives a s*** about that?"
He added, on the NZTA project, which had been in development since 2009: "I've been told that it's two years away for the last five or six years. You can believe who you want."
According to Ponter, the Snapper contactless rollout involved physically modifying existing payment readers onboard hundreds of buses and tag posts at train stations.
Snapper cards would continue to remain valid until Motu Move was fully implemented sometime in 2027, according to NZTA, with the expected eventual move meaning thousands of the red cards would have to be swapped out.
Part of the justification for introducing contactless included the risk of the Snapper card system failing, as it was a legacy product that was falling out of support.
Kiwis will have the option of paying for public transport with their debit or credit card, or digital payment method. (Source: 1News)
The council was buying time with extended contracts but, if the prepaid system suffered a catastrophic failure before the national ticketing arrived, Wellington would be forced back to cash-only payments and "bleed millions of dollars every week," Ponter added.
"The delays by Waka Kotahi and the next ticketing system means that we have to introduce credit card payments and PayWave payments, because we've now run out of runway for the Snapper system."
Latest blow to beleaguered $1.4bn NZTA project
Wellington's latest moves mean most public transport users in New Zealand will have the ability to pay for their travel without needing to buy a separate card.
Combined together, Auckland and Wellington account for around 80% of public transport patronage nationally and around 90% of fare revenue.
The supercity introduced contactless payments through its existing system last year.
But Motu Move was planned to be built in a significantly more modern way as compared to existing systems, such as Snapper and Auckland's AT HOP.
A version of the national ticketing solution, known internally as 0.5 extension according to internal documents, was successfully rolled out in Christchurch last month.
But there were several caveats with the region's existing Metrocard system remaining in use for concession-holders and for people who wanted to use a prepaid card.
Unlike other major centres, Metro Canterbury also used a flat fare system, with all standard bus trips costing $3.
An NZTA spokesperson said the agency "worked with Greater Wellington Regional Council to finalise a contract extension for Snapper support".
"The decision to undertake this extension was to minimise any risk associated with contract termination to Greater Wellington public transport users as GWRC transitions to NTS.
"The minimum contract term was 12 months, and this takes Snapper support through to December 2027.
"Following the successful introduction of NTS in Christchurch this year, the NTS programme is now rolling out Motu Move and contactless payments nationwide in a phased manner.
"All of the NTS partners are committed to the successful implementation of the programme, which will make it easier for people to use and pay for public transport right across New Zealand.
"NTS is a highly complex programme to deliver. It has been very challenging accommodating a broad range of localised requirements into one standardised national technical solution, and discussions with the 13 NTS partners have been open and wide-ranging over several years as the programme has evolved and developed."
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