Iran war: No public transport fare hikes in the pipeline ‒ and definitely no subsidies

Monday, 23 March 2026

Officials have advised against any wide-ranging subsidies to lower the price of taking a bus, ferry or train, Transport Minister Chris Bishop says.

At the same time public transport providers in Auckland and Wellington say they are not considering fare hikes, despite soaring fuel costs.

On Monday representatives from public transport authorities met with Bishop. He told The Post they had good capacity across their networks and were monitoring the fuel situation closely.

“Obviously public transport is becoming more attractive compared with driving given current prices at the pump.”

Read more:

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• Iran war: NZ petrol stocks dip below 50 days, one tanker due the next week: MBIE

• Iran war: Pre-conflict report warned diesel stocks might not be sufficient

Officials had told him broad increases in public transport subsidies were not the right move.

The Government already “heavily” subsidised public transport, as well as half-price fares for Community Service Card holders, Bishop said.

Any future subsidy would need to be targeted, timely and temporary, he said.

Nicola Willis earlier said no public transport provider had asked the Government to help them with the cost of fares.

An Auckland Transport spokesperson told The Post there were no plans for ticket price increases.

“We would work closely with our operators in terms of fuel impacts, but that won’t include raising fares at this stage.”

Greater Wellington Regional Council chairperson Daran Ponter also said there no plans for fare hikes on Metlink services. The council already had, prior to the Middle East conflict, announced a 3.1% hike, due to start in May.

Metlink group manager Samantha Gain said the public transport operator was monitoring any potential fuel impacts.

“Our preparations are thorough and extensive and should this issue escalate, we will take direction from MBIE (the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment) on a nationally co-ordinated approach and keep our passengers informed of any service changes.”

Metlink has 488 buses in its fleet, 122 of which are electric. Wellington also has an electric ferry and most of the trains are electric.

Auckland Transport has 1350 buses, 330 of which are electric, with an additional 78 arriving by the end of June.

Auckland has 30 ferries, including two electric, and two hybrid vessels scheduled to set sail later in the year.