Auckland Transport media release

29 March 2017

AT HOP rules Auckland’s public transport

The AT HOP card is now used for 91% of trips on trains, buses and ferries in Auckland.

Three years after the card was fully rolled out HOP is the third most used payment card in New Zealand (after Visa and Mastercard).

Auckland Transport’s Group Manager AT HOP Denise Verrall says half of Aucklanders are HOP users, “We started with HOP on trains at the end of 2012 and just over four years later, it is part of daily life for most Aucklanders. There are more than a million cards out there and we’re processing in excess of 150 million transactions a year.”

Ms Verrall says HOP is now an Auckland necessity. “The card is not only convenient, it also guarantees savings. We thought we might reach half a million transactions a day but we’re currently doing 695,000. The card is very definitely a success.”

She says overall satisfaction with the card is growing, in the past 12 months satisfaction has jumped three points to 71%.

Ms Verrall says changes are on the way both to the HOP website and the actual way we use the card. “Auckland Transport is currently working on a project which will see some improvements to the HOP website within a few months. The upgrade will deal with one of the common complaints regarding how hard the site is to navigate.”

She says in the longer term Auckland Transport is looking at the possibility of customers using their credit or debit card to tag on and off on public transport instead of needing a dedicated HOP card. “This would work alongside HOP for those who still prefer to use the prepay option.”

HOP usage is high in comparison to other cities with smart transport cards. London’s Oyster card was introduced in 2003 and is now used by most commuters. In similar sized markets to Auckland, Adelaide’s Metrocard is used for 87% of trips and Perth’s SmartRider for 80%.

HOP Facts:

• 141 locations to top-up your AT HOP card (plus online/auto top-up)

• The AT HOP card was rolled out on trains in late 2012 and then extended to ferry and bus services. Full go live across Auckland was completed in March 2014

• How fast is my AT HOP card? When you tag-on to a bus / train / ferry your HOP card is read in a 300th of a milli-second

• Total cards sold: 1,185,206 as at March 2017

For the 12 months to February 2017 Auckland public transport patronage totalled 85.7 million passenger boardings, an increase of 5% on the previous year.

For more on AT HOP: https://at.govt.nz/bus-train-ferry/at-hop-card/

ENDS

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