• Cap on bus and train fares to lower household costs and increase uptake
• Commitment to advocate for change in Government policy to make public transport more affordable

Wellington Mayoral candidate Andrew Little and Labour’s Greater Wellington Regional Council (GWRC) candidates Daran Ponter and Tom James have today released a joint policy to reduce the cost of public transport.

Under the weekly fare cap, public transport users will pay for a maximum of eight trips per week, with any additional trips free. This means if someone commutes to work four days over the course of a week, the fifth day and any weekend trips will be free.

Andrew Little said: “For many Wellingtonians, transport is a significant cost. A weekly cap on bus and train fares will help to lower the cost of living, reduce congestion and increase public transport usage and reliability.

“This is a commonsense, affordable policy where if someone takes eight trips in a week, the rest are free. This fare cap will make a small but material difference to people’s back pockets, with a regular commuter from Strathmore into the city saving over $400 a year.

“Central government also has a significant role to play in making public transport affordable and reliable. If elected, I will work alongside the regional council to advocate for the government to ease up on its requirement for increased private charges on public transport.”

Daran Ponter said: “As Chair of GWRC, I have worked hard to continue to grow ridership to reduce congestion and lower our city’s emissions. This policy will mean an additional 300,000 trips on our buses and trains, helping to unlock our city.

“I have a proven track record of working with central government and my fellow councillors to deliver more buses to more places and securing funding for better rail services. I look forward to working with Andrew as Mayor to deliver this cost of living relief in the next term of local government.”

First-time GWRC candidate Tom James said: “I’m standing for regional council because I want to get more people on buses and trains, lower costs for families, and reduce emissions. A fare cap does all three and is affordable for ratepayers.”

The policy also includes a commitment to investigate other measures to improve affordability. These include encouraging workplace subsidies for staff to travel by public transport, modelled on Auckland Transport’s successful Fareshare scheme, as well as looking into targeted off-peak fares (for example on Mondays or Fridays) as has been done in Sydney to encourage travel at times when public transport is underutilised.

Policy factsheet: https://assets.nationbuilder.com/andrewlittle/pages/331/attachments/original/1748931943/policy-cheaper-public-transport.pdf?1748931943

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