Wellington Public Transport Fare Changes 1 October 2013
Wellington Public Transport Fare Changes 1 October 2013
Many fares for Wellington buses, trains and harbour ferries will increase slightly from Tuesday 1 October.
Fares paid for with stored value cards, e.g. Snapper, school term passes, and rail and harbour ferry monthly passes and 10-trip tickets will increase by around 2.5%. An exception is the zone 1 Snapper fare which will increase from $1.60 to $1.66. This is a one-off increase, made now to prevent a much bigger increase in the next year or so.
Most cash fares will not change, apart from a 50c increase to adult cash fares for zones 8 (Wellington – Paekakariki, Maymorn), 11 (Wellington – Featherston) and 12 (Wellington to Woodside) and children’s cash fares for zones 11 and 12.
Airport Flyer and after midnight bus fares will not change.
The fare increase is to cover rising public transport costs and to ensure that the fares contribute around 55% of overall day to day costs, in line with both the Council’s and central government’s farebox recovery policies. The remainder of costs is paid for through regional rates and taxes.
Last year, the Regional Council adopted a five-year programme of fare increases to ensure that over the five years all fares would increase by the same percentage over the length of the programme. This long-term approach was taken because:
Council has assumed a standard 3% increase in fare revenue per year for the next ten years
It allows increases to be planned to take into account the fact that increases to cash fares are only made once the increase rounds up to the nearest 50 cents. Considering the increases over a number of years can ensure that over the long-term the average increase for these passengers is not higher than the increases for others
It helps ensure evenness and fairness over the five year programme and allows for small regular fare increases rather than much larger intermittent increases.
Train commuters who buy an October monthly pass before 1 October will need to pay the new price.
A full schedule of the fare changes is available at www.metlink.org.nz/tickets-and-fares or you can pick up a new Metlink fares brochure from your local Metlink timetable outlet.
ENDS