Election 2026: Labour to introduce caps on public transport costs for cities, regions
Wednesday, 10 June 2026
Labour will introduce a fare cap of $20 a week for public transport in main centres and $10 everywhere else if it becomes the government after this year’s election.
It is the first policy the party has announced since the Budget and was estimated by the party to cost up to $65 million per year.
The $20 limit would apply to Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch, with weekly fares capped to $10 in other regions.
Party leader Chris Hipkins said it was a major cost of living commitment “designed to put money back into the pockets of commuters, students and families”.
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“Cheaper fares mean more freedom, freedom to get to work, freedom to study, freedom to attend appointments and freedom to spend time with family and friends without worrying about the cost.”
The policy would start in July next year if Labour wins power in the November 7 general election and be funded from the National Land Transport Fund (NLTF).
InterCity buses, Capital Connection, Te Huia, Mainlander train services and Waiheke ferries would be excluded from the scheme while inner city ferries in Auckland and Wellington would be included.
Hipkins told media on Wednesday morning the policy would represent less than 1% of the NLTF, and that how it could be funded would be included in the new government policy statement (GPS) on transport for this year, if Labour were back in the Beehive following the election.
The GPS is reassessed every three years and maps out how the Government’s transport priorities will be funded through the NLTF.
Hipkins said this policy meant one of the priorities Labour would have if it got back into power would be fare capping.
Labour’s transport spokesperson Tangi Utikere said the cost of the policy was modelled off of Auckland Transport projection, as Auckland already had a fare cap of $50 per week.
“Auckland Transport itself, its own modelling suggests a 6% increase in patronage over a $20 fare cap, so if we extrapolate that across other metros and other parts of the country, we're looking at that $65 million a year.”
National Party campaign chairperson Simeon Brown said it was “another spending promise from the Labour Party with no plan for how they’ll pay for it”.
“The National Land Transport Fund is already oversubscribed. The idea of siphoning a quarter of a billion dollars from the NLTF to pay for this is fanciful. Ultimately this policy will require higher taxes or more borrowing.”