The cost of taking a train, bus or ferry will soon be temporarily halved to help counter the rising cost of living but not all commuters expect to rake in the savings.
Auckland accounts for half the fares, but the pandemic has put the brakes on public transport patronage in the city, which is a third what it was in 2019. (File photo) Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone
Public transport fares across the country will be cut by 50 percent for three months, from April until the end of June.
But it is unclear whether this includes the Waiheke Island and Devonport ferry services, or the Wellington Cable Car.
A one-way ticket to Waiheke Island is $21 but buy a monthly pass and it goes up to hundreds of dollars.
Resident Chloe Barker would save more than $150 a month if the fares halved, and wants the ferry operator Fullers to take part in the fare reduction.
"Given that the Waiheke community supports their business throughout the year when sometimes tourism drops off I think it would be a really nice thing for them to look into further."
Ferry operator Fullers is not part of the public transport network, and does not receive government funding.
But Barker said it was time to reduce the ferry fares.
"I've seen people moving off the island because of the rising costs of living, they're losing their whole community. Some people have been living here for their whole life and they're being forced to move with the costs of living and a large part of that often is the ferry cost."
Fullers chief commercial officer Tim O'Halloran said the company supported the fare reduction for public transport for three months, and had asked government if the move included its services.
"We will communicate to our customers and stakeholders as soon as we have confirmation from government whether we can offer this price deduction on these services," he said.
Auckland Transport group manager of metro services Stacey van der Putten said the Waiheke and Devonport ferry fares were out of its hands.
"At the moment it would seem that the Devonport and Waiheke services are exempt from this 50 percent discount because it doesn't receive any public funding."
She said the combined savings for commuters over the three months would be in the millions - it was crunching the numbers now.
"It's a decent saving, taking into consideration we do have substantially reduced customers currently given the current Omicron outbreak, we will see that return and so that'll determine what those savings look like."
The pandemic has put the brakes on public transport patronage in the super city, bringing it down to a third of what it was in 2019.
Even so, those who commute into the city say the cost savings, however minor, will make a difference.
Metin Kayikci takes the bus to work in the city each weekday.
"It's a good start, there are probably other things they can do for cost of living, probably grocery prices would be the biggest one."
His friend Sophie Watson would like public transport costs addressed for the long term.
"It means a lot, I can put more towards food and bills but I think in general public transport should be cheaper."
Anna Chambers said she would save $10 a week on bus fares.
"The more expensive things are groceries and bills so it's definitely not going to make a huge amount [of savings] available but anything is better than nothing."
For those living in areas without public transport, the government has temporarily pulled 25 cents a litre off its fuel excise duty and told the petrol companies to pass it on.
The capital city's Metlink network is included in the half price fares.
Greater Wellington chair Daran Ponter said it should help to boost patronage.
"It's a huge boon for commuters and potentially a means, temporarily at least, of attracting people out of their cars into public transport."
But he said it was not clear yet if the cable car and KiwiRail's capital connection - which runs weekdays between Palmerston North and Wellington - would be included in the reduction.
However, those buying paper tickets could find a happy loophole.
"We've also got a rather antiquated, Victorian ticketing system in Wellington, where people still use paper tickets. One of the things we're having to consider is if you drop prices for those tickets and people buy a weekly pass does that mean that they can buy a bundle of weekly passes for the next five years and get them discounted?"
As for longer term fare reductions, Ponter said he was waiting on the Climate Change Commission's recommendations due late May.
