Commuters aged 25 and over in Tāmaki Makaurau are waking up to the return of full-price public transport fares.
After more than a year of subsidised tickets, Aucklanders waved goodbye to half-price travel over the weekend, with Monday marking the first commuter day of the new – or old – system.
The discount scheme was introduced in July 2022 to encourage people to use public transport after Covid-19, and extended in response to the increasing cost of living in the supercity.
But, as of Saturday, all of those over the age of 24 returned to having to pay full-price for all public transport.
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Under-25s will continue to receive half-price fares, while under-13s will travel for free under new Auckland Transport concessions.
According to Auckland Transport metro optimisation manager, Richard Harrison, half-priced fairs “made a real difference to Aucklanders” when they came into effect.
Harrison said he didn’t think half-price fares would affect use of public transport going forward.
“People who are using public transport are already using it for work, university, etc,” he said.
Chris McKeen/Stuff
Under-25s will continue to receive half-priced fares, while under-13s will be able to travel for free. (File photo)
“In 2019, prior to half-price fares, we had 100 million boardings. Now even with half-price fares we only have 80 million boardings.”
Auckland commuter Biku Adhikari said the fare increase had the potential to pile on top of the ongoing cost of living crisis.
“Especially if you’re a homeowner, and you’re still repaying the mortgage and increasing interest rates… that’s already a huge cost. To have other little things build up on top of that, could be a big problem,” he said.
Commuter Graham Richardson said while the fare increase was annoying, he understood the slash was a temporary move.
“It’s obviously not great, but I also understand it was meant to be a temporary reduction. I understand prices had to go back up to cover some of the costs,” he said.
For chair of the transport users association, Niall Robertson, the return to full-priced transport is “a bit sad”.
“Fares for public transport should always be as low as they possibly can, so it’s a shame, but at least this time around they’ve actually thought about younger people and those who can’t drive for whatever reason,” he said.
Robertson said he was unsure whether the return to full-priced would see a decreased number of people using public transport – particularly in light of the increased price of petrol.
For those who pay $10 a day for full-price fares, the subsidised rate would have seen them save around $100 a month.
