Costly rebrand sinks Motu Move name change
Saturday, 27 June 2026
A mooted name change for long-delayed national ticketing system Motu Move - already budgeted to cost $1.36 billion - has been canned after Transport Minister Chris Bishop discovered it could cost $27.3 million and push the project back a further 12 months.
Previously unreleased papers seen by The Post show the costs and delays would be due to a range of factors, including reprinting hundreds of thousands of transport cards, design and advertising.
The National Ticketing Solution (NTS) - designed to replace public transport cards across the country and make one contactless payment system for all travel via bus, train or ferry - has been in the works at the NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi for 16 years.
It is being developed by US transport-defence contractor Cubic, which has the contract to build, configure and operate the system. The total budget is $1.36b.
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There have been numerous delays, notably last year when the full release was pushed back by a year and its leadership reset by NZTA. It was partially rolled out late last year, in Christchurch, under the brand Motu Move.
Documents released under the Official Information Act show just how much NZTA expected a change of brand from Motu Move would add up to.
Design estimates came in $6.2m, with flow-on costs up to $27.3m.
This included brand development, marketing, changing the system’s website and app, changing the vinyl wrapping on card readers already in place, and replacing hundreds of thousands of payment cards that already have the Motu Move branding on them. NZTA said 300,000 cards had the Motu Move branding, with a further 200,000 already ordered.
Bishop confirmed to The Post he sought advice on a brand change after feedback from members of the public.
He said he was asked “why it wasn’t called something simple like NZ National Ticketing, so I asked whether it was possible to change and how much it would cost”.
However, a brand change “won’t be happening”.
“ It’s obviously not a good use of money,” Bishop said.
NZTA confirmed there were no plans to change the branding.
No costs had been associated with designing the brand, but the agency said just over $1m had been spent on associated work such as brand development, marketing (research, design, printing) and advertising.
How much has been spent on the NTS?
The project’s $1.36b budget was split into $528m for design and implementation and $830m for operational costs which covers through to 2037.
The agency said to May this year $271m had been spent, with $251m for design and implementation, and $20m for ongoing operational costs.
Auckland and Wellington have their own contactless payment systems, which public transport providers in both cities have said will help transition people to the NTS.
$25.6m was spent on Auckland’s system, with the Government paying for 46% of that and Auckland Council paying the rest.
It cost $5.3m for Greater Wellington Regional Council to implement its own payment system on Snapper.