Fare hikes coming next month for Auckland’s public transport network will target shorter journeys, the area that’s seen the highest increase in patronage in the post-pandemic period.
Auckland Transport is hoping an average increase of 6.2 percent across the network will dovetail with increasing patronage and help it meet the mammoth challenge of climbing operating costs.
Chief executive Dean Kimpton spent much of last year warning councillors that the agency has an unsustainable funding model, especially when it comes to ever-increasing renewal needs of billions of dollars of assets.
But the operating costs of the region-spanning public transport network have posed their own problems.
AT’s public transport and active modes director Stacey van der Putten said high inflation and staff shortages had dramatically spiked operating costs over the past few years.
“Adjusting fares to raise revenue is unfortunately one of the steps AT needs to take to cover those higher costs,” van der Putten said.
The challenge has potentially only been exacerbated by the deferment and cancellation of fare increases during the past two years in an effort to ease the financial burden on commuters in the wake of the pandemic and last year’s extreme weather events.
From the perspective of AT’s books, the Waitangi Day increases will look like the inevitable payment of two years of hard-won reprieve.
But with the central government-gifted, half-price fare programme ending last July, it may well feel quite different to regular users of the network.
The profile of public transport use in Auckland has changed in recent years, with more people using the network but fewer using it on a daily basis.
That means one-off trips in the weekends and evenings have spiked, while the ability to work from home has thinned the herd of everyday commuters.
Public transport boardings in Auckland were just less than 80 million during 2023, around 80 percent of pre-Covid levels.
But according to a progress report Auckland Transport staff delivered to councillors in November, people haven’t returned to each mode equally. Bus boardings were at 91.4 percent of pre-Covid levels, while ferry boardings were at 74.7 percent.
Train boardings, meanwhile, were still at just 63.7 percent of 2019 levels – a figure not helped by crucial KiwiRail refurbishments closing down key lines for months at a time.
Meanwhile, Auckland Transport puts the healthier return to previous bus-riding habits down to a return to normal reliability now that bus driver shortages have been filled.
The highest percentage change in bus fares will be within Zone One, which is set to increase by 10 percent for an adult fare using an AT HOP Card.
Meanwhile, monthly passes are largely going up by around $15 in price. A monthly pass for Waiheke services will go from $355 to $370.
Auckland Transport is required to annually review its fares according to the Regional Public Transport Plan.
This review takes into account increases in operating costs like fuel and labour, increases to the cost of living, and the investment needed to provide necessary services like bus stops and terminals.
The fare hikes represent a suite of changes the embattled organisation is making to slowly find its way onto firmer financial ground. Along with making sure those short rides pay for themselves, it’s also trying to attract some of the tourist dollar.
A move to an open-loop payment system that allows riders to use their own bank card in place of an AT HOP Card is expected in the next six months.
By simplifying the fare payment process by allowing commuters to use contactless methods like credit cards or mobile phones directly at ticket barriers, AT is hoping the barriers to entry for one-off users like tourists will be removed.
The agency said despite the fare hikes, growth in ridership is set to increase the pool of revenue it can use to meet operating costs.
An independent review into the fairness of fares is set for later this year, and will look into the feasibility of a weekly fare cap – a maximum amount users can spend on public transport before it becomes essentially free for the rest of the week.
In November, Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown proposed a $50 fare cap, which would cost around $1.3 million a year.
