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Zone systems and the fare structure across buses, trains and ferries will change this Sunday, February 2.
There will be fewer zones to simplify the system, which will also result in fare decreases for some travellers, particularly those travelling the longest distance.
However, any savings will be countered by the annual public transport fare adjustment, which means there will be an increase in many fares, ranging between 15 and 25 cents for each bus and train journey, or 20c to $1.40 for ferry journeys or a weighted average 5.2%.
Auckland Transport director public transport Stacey van der Putten says this annual review of public transport fares is needed to offset substantial increases in operating costs.
“During the Covid-19 pandemic we had two years when we didn’t increase Auckland’s public transport fares despite a sharp increase in operating costs and we’re now effectively playing catch-up,” she says.
“When we consider fare changes like this, we aim to strike a fair balance between the share of public transport costs our passengers pay and the share paid by ratepayers and taxpayers. Alongside this annual fare adjustment, we will continue to investigate options to increase public transport income from commercial sources other than fares.”
The number of fare zones will be consolidated from 14 to nine. Eight zones will be combined into three new zones including the East Coast/South Rodney zone which will be created by consolidating Helensville, Huapai, Hibiscus Coast and Upper North Shore zones.
From Sunday, an adult customer using HOP or contactless payments travelling from the Hibiscus Coast to go to Albany will only pay a one zone fare of $2.80 instead of $4.65 per journey. Or, if they commute from Hibiscus coast to the city, they will save $0.85 ($7.40 to $6.25 per journey), as they are now only travelling three zones, not four.
As part of the changes, the 10 per cent off-peak discount will be removed, but the HOP card $50 seven-day fare cap remains unchanged.
More information on the fare adjustments and structural changes can be found at at.govt.nz/farechanges
