Councillor asks Auckland Transport to look at extending free public transport

Monday, 14 January 2019

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Moves are afoot to explore the cost of scrapping public transport fares for young people in Auckland.

Councillor Chris Darby has asked the city's transport agency to look at the cost of allowing under-15s, along with secondary and tertiary students, to travel for free.

Discussion about fare-free public transport was sparked by a limited initiative in Auckland for afternoon commuters one day before Christmas.

'If you change travel habits at an early age, you can create public transport users over a very long period,' Darby said.

Fares paid to travel on Auckland buses presently cover only 47 per cent of the cost of services.

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Auckland Transport has previously been cool on the concept, rejecting a presentation at its 'Big Ideas' initiative last year that called for the city to follow some European cities offering fare-free public transport.

'The evidence presented suggest the arguments are largely misguided,' AT's response said.

AT estimated the loss of fare revenue to be $176 million, with another $60 million needed for new services to meet increased patronage.

Darby said he had kicked the idea around a bit, and while fare-free public transport was too much, opening the door to young people had merit.

'If you target that younger age group, you are targeting a customer you potentially have for life,' he said.

Darby said he wanted to explore the idea in more detail as the council prepared its next annual budget by mid-year.

The most recent move internationally has been in Paris, which planned to introduce free travel for under-11s from September.

The transport-oriented lobby Greater Auckland was not sure full-blown fare-free travel was the right thing for Auckland, which, unlike European cities, was still developing its public transport network.

'Auckland has a long way to go on that measure and even if you made it free, for many it would still be to slow, and infrequent,' editor Matt Lowrie said.

'I think if you had the money to run a full free system, a better outcome would likely be to use it to improve services and reduce fares, including potentially free or very cheap fares for either some users, or times of the week.'

Off-peak public transport is already fare-free for over-65s nationwide under the government-funded Supergold card policy, with Auckland extending that through the evening peak.

The cost of using public transport is also subsidised jointly by ratepayers and taxpayers, meaning in Auckland fares cover only 47 per cent of the cost of services.

Darby said letting young people travel free would improve access to education and have social and environmental benefits.

He had also asked the agency for any information it had gleaned about public transport use during the free-travel afternoon on December 21.

Auckland Transport's budgets are under pressure with rising patronage adding to demand for new services beyond those already planned.