National’s public transport conversion would be more convincing with a better track record

Wednesday, 1 July 2026

Tangi Utikere is the Labour Party’s transport spokesperson

OPINION: Transport Minister Chris Bishop appears to be suffering from selective amnesia as he lines up to criticise the National Ticketing Solution, a project progressed under both National and Labour-led governments.

It’s a bit rich for Bishop to frame this as a Labour mess when National had its hands on the wheel for a significant stretch of the journey.

The National Ticketing Solution was a practical response to a simple reality: New Zealand’s patchwork of ageing ticketing systems was nearing the end of its life. The choice facing governments was never whether to spend money or not, it was whether to keep pouring money into outdated systems or invest in a single national platform that would serve New Zealanders for decades.

Large technology projects are difficult. Timelines shift. Costs change. Governments of all stripes have inherited projects that require adjustment and reset as technology evolves.

That’s an argument for bipartisan commitment, not political point-scoring.

The case for getting this right is straightforward. A parent travelling between regions should not need a different card for every city. A student should not lose concession entitlements because they crossed a regional boundary. Visitors should be able to tap on with a debit card in Christchurch, Auckland or Wellington without needing a crash course in local ticketing quirks. That was true when the project was commissioned, and it remains true today.

Transport infrastructure should not become a political football simply because it spans more than one term.

National’s enthusiasm for public transport this week would carry more weight if its record didn’t tell a different story. For years, buses and trains have been treated as an afterthought - a nice extra once the roads budget is sorted - while Labour has consistently approached public transport as an essential service that helps people get to work, school and appointments affordably.

New Zealanders who rely on public transport every day have watched that contrast play out in funding decisions, in cancelled projects, and in the chronic underinvestment that made a national ticketing solution necessary in the first place.

Long-term infrastructure planning requires genuine bipartisan commitment, not selective ownership. National can’t credibly champion a project when it suits the news cycle while spending years treating the underlying network as a second-order priority.

Projects are being brought forward without clear answers about who pays, when they will be delivered, or which projects will be delayed when costs inevitably rise.

The result is a growing gap between National’s wish list and reality.

New Zealand deserves honesty about transport investment.

That means acknowledging that nationwide ticketing is worthwhile infrastructure.

It also means being upfront that roads, rail and public transport all require sustainable funding and long-term planning rather than press releases and ribbon-cutting opportunities.

Transport projects should be judged by whether they improve people's lives and whether they represent value for money over the long term.

By that measure, a national ticketing system that simplifies travel for millions of passengers stacks up rather well.

The same cannot yet be said for a roads programme with billion-dollar question marks hanging over how it will be paid for.

Chris Bishop needs to stop dragging his heels, costing taxpayers more, and get on with delivering for New Zealanders.