Free public transport trips for Auckland under-15s get nod from Auckland Mayor Phil Goff
Monday, 13 May 2019
Auckland under-15s might be able to ride free on public transport from later this year, with the mayor backing the idea for this year's council budget.
Ferry trips that connect to bus or train journeys would also become cheaper in a second initiative to be voted on by councillors next month.
Auckland Mayor Phil Goff is endorsing both measures for this year's Budget which takes effect in July.
'It'll help encourage more families onto our buses and trains, and encourage the next generation of Aucklanders into becoming public transport users,' he said.
**READ MORE:
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The two ideas have emerged as the early favourites from a list being championed by the chairman and deputy of the planning committee, Chris Darby and Richard Hills.
Allowing under-15s to travel free on weekends would lose revenue of $643,000 but could generate 989,000 additional trips.
Providing discounted ferry fares, where they connect with a bus or train trip for electronic card users, would cost $502,000 but could add 180,000 journeys.
Ferry fare integration is technically possible now, but hadn't been planned for another couple of years.
Another patronage-generating initiative under consideration is the lifting of the student discount from 20 to 25 per cent.
That will be considered in a wider piece of work being conducted with the New Zealand Transport Agency and the government, looking for ways to accelerate the shift of motorists out of their cars.
The cost of the student initiative is the highest at $1.69 million and the additional trips generated are the lowest at 124,000.
Darby described the two ideas as 'low-hanging fruit' from almost a dozen initiatives that have been studied, and others, such as cheaper or free school buses, were still being explored.
'Free kids' weekends will unlock public travel around Auckland for families,' said Hills.
Not all councillors are totally happy, with Manurewa-Papakura ward councillor Daniel Newman saying the 'schmooze' wouldn't help the majority of Aucklanders who use private vehicles.
'An election year sweetener on public transport fares will be paid for by foregoing other urgent initiatives, including new public transport services,' he said.
Similar initiatives have been backed by the climate change lobby Generation Zero in a campaign it launched in March.
Councillors behind closed doors last week considered a range of measures to boost patronage growth.
Auckland Transport has earmarked $5 million in its budget for the next year to use on new fare ideas.
However it is also providing for a two per cent general fare rise after this year failing to get extra funding to free fares.
The public transport budget is already under pressure, with the council agency expecting to face costs of $4 million linked to new rest breaks required under law for bus drivers.
The new roster regime kicked in on May 6, and AT is footing the bill of additional drivers needed to maintain the same number of services.
Patronage on all public transport in Auckland is running 8.5 per cent ahead of the previous year and is expected to reach a modern record of 100 million trips a year next month.
This April, patronage was 10.3 per cent higher than the previous year once anomalies were stripped out, such as holiday and special events.