Wayne Brown ‘long been concerned’ about $1.3 billion ticketing project
Wednesday, 1 April 2026
Auckland mayor Wayne Brown says he’s “long been concerned” about the National Ticketing Solution following a scathing review into the $1.3 billion project.
“I’ve never understood why it was worth spending $1.3 billion on a national system, given Aucklanders can already pay with contactless methods, and we shouldn’t be boxed into a one-size-fits-all system.”
Brown said Government-led IT projects were well known for going over time and budget.
“This appears to be headed in the same direction.”
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On Tuesday The Post reported that a review created in December found the timeframes for the NTS project were still “ambitious” after they had already been pushed back.
The probe found a lack of commitment from Greater Wellington Regional Council and Auckland Transport posed a big problem.
“Without such commitment, significant risk will remain with respect to the capacity to effectively manage the programme from both a time and cost perspective.”
Auckland Transport told The Post it was committed, but it agreed with the report that the delayed timeframes were still ambitious.
In response to comments made by Auckland Transport, Transport Minister Chris Bishop said the project was a “collective effort” between the Government and public transport authorities.
“We need Auckland and Wellington to play their part in making it a reality. They've assured me they're up for it, and they want to do that, and that's good, but we know there's a long way to go.”
Bishop said the NTS will be “world leading” when it’s done.
“Whether or not we should have decided to try and build the world's first ticketing system where you've got concessions loaded on a credit card is a different issue.
“That was the decision that was made way before I became Minister of Transport. So it's too late to go back and re-litigate that that decision has been made, and we've just got to make it work.”