Motu Move delayed again as Snapper contract expiry date looms
Tuesday, 10 June 2025
Public transport users and providers will have to wait until August to find out more after delays to the $1.3 billion Motu Move national public transport ticketing programme.
Motu Move was supposed to be launched in Canterbury this year before being introduced across all regions by end of 2026. However, Waka Kotahi/New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) said it pushed back the first rollout in Timaru and Temuka in a May 30 update, making it the third delay in nine months.
An NZTA spokesperson blamed it on “challenges of the more complex components of the new system”. The Press has reported those components included the regional nuances of how much it cost to ride a bus and who could get concessions.
Motu Move would phase in electronic payments and a new smart card that could pay for public transport fares nationwide, replacing existing ones like the Snapper card in Wellington, Auckland’s AT Hop card and the Bee Card used in 10 regions.
It was scheduled to arrive in Wellington next year after previous launch dates of 2021 and 2022 came and went. Snapper’s contract with Metlink is due to expire on December 31, 2026.
Officials were “working closely with our regional partners around the country to understand the impacts of the delays on each region”, the NZTA spokesperson told The Post on Monday, adding that an updated rollout timetable was expected to be confirmed in August.
The agency has commissioned an independent review, with its final report and a new delivery plan due by the end of July.
“Work is under way to understand the options with a revised delivery plan for Canterbury expected to be confirmed in the next few months.”
The spokesperson referred questions about the possibility Motu Move would not be ready by the time Snapper’s contract expires to the Greater Wellington Regional Council, which runs Metlink.
Wellington regional councillor Yadana Saw told The Post on Monday that Metlink would likely extend its contract with Snapper if delays at Motu Move go beyond the end of 2026, and she expected funding support as part of an interim solution.
“Our concern is that Wellington public transport users are going to have to wait longer for being able to have debit card payment and integrated ticketing,” she said. “We are still committed to Motu Move. It’s a shame that if it delays any further, it means that Wellington public transport users won’t get those benefits.”
Metlink’s group manager Samantha Gain said officials “continually monitor all our contractual arrangements to ensure the continuity of regional public transport services”.
Transport Minister Chris Bishop said on Monday he had met with the project’s governance group to “stress the significant investment … and to encourage them to exercise leadership to get the project back on track”.
NZTA previously hailed a trial conducted on Christchurch’s Route 29 airport bus using contactless personal debit and credit cards as a “great success”, but it did not involve Motu Move’s new cards.
An NZTA monthly report to then Transport Minister Simeon Brown in October 2024 said finishing the programme by 2026 was “challenging” despite “progressive successes”.
Figures released by NZTA under official information requests showed the agency set aside $528 million for building and designing the programme’s system, and $146.4m had been spent as of December.
A further $800m was allocated to operational costs, which NZTA had already been spending on the Route 29 trial.
The Taxpayers’ Union’s Alex Emes called the programme a “useless vanity project”: “If the government really wanted to make things easier, it should move towards the simpler and more cost-efficient option of having transport providers offer a contactless option.”