We’re reviewing bus fares in the Bay of Plenty to ensure public transport remains accessible, sustainable, and easy to use. This review is about finding the right balance between keeping services easy to understand and affordable, while managing the rising cost of maintaining and improving the network as our community grows.

The Bay of Plenty is experiencing rapid growth, and with that comes increased costs in providing reliable public transport. Over the past few years, operating costs have risen steadily, and they’re expected to keep increasing.

To help manage these changes, the Government has asked all public transport providers to assess and improve how we generate revenue. This includes covering a larger share of our costs through fares and third-party revenue to reduce reliance on government subsidies and rates. We also want to simplify the way we charge fares. Over time, our fare structure has become more complex, with some concessions (discounts) currently overlapping. Through this review, we’re asking which concessions are most valuable to you and exploring how we can simplify discounts to make the system easier to understand while providing value to the whole community.

Our fare review is focussing on:

• Rewarding regular users: Offering fare options that make public transport the preferred choice for more trips.
• Accessibility: Creating a fare structure and concessions that are easy to understand and use, wherever you are in the region.
• Financial sustainability: Ensuring the system can support its costs while keeping fares affordable.

Additionally, we’re preparing for the National Ticketing Solution, which will simplify and expand payment options nationwide.

We’ve worked to keep fares affordable for our communities.

Currently, several concessions are in place to help different groups access public transport; however, some of these concessions overlap, and a few could be adjusted to deliver better value for the whole community. Our current concessions include:

While these discounts are important for making public transport accessible and affordable, they also reduce the fare revenue we collect. The Bay of Plenty has one of the lowest average fares per boarding in the country at $0.60, compared to the national average of $1.87.

One reason our fare revenue is low is because our Child/Young Person concession offers free travel for school-aged children during weekday school commute times (before 9am and 2:30-6:00pm). The way we charge young people is being reviewed as part of our assessment of current concessions. We would like your input to streamline our concessions to make our system more efficient and affordable for everyone.

We’re also considering new incentives to encourage more people to use the bus, especially on weekends and during off-peak hours. Here are some options we’re exploring:

• An off-peak discount: Offering discounted fares outside of peak commuter hours.
• Fare cap (multi-trip discount). Offering a daily or weekly ‘cap’ to the amount a person pays, after which their trips are free.
• Family day pass: A pass allowing families or groups to travel together for a set fare within our main centres.

Next year, Bay of Plenty bus users are set to benefit from the rollout of the National Ticketing Solution known as Motu Move. The regional roll out is expected to start in Canterbury this year and will eventually standardise payment systems across all public transport services in New Zealand. The system will allow passengers to pay with contactless debit or credit cards and devices as well as a prepaid card. This fare review will help prepare us for this transition.

We’re seeking your feedback on the concessions that matter to you, your thoughts on our current discounts, and any incentives that might encourage you to use the bus more.

We’d love to hear from you. Please complete our short survey by 02 December 2024.

A summary of results will be presented to Council next year to consider before any fare changes are made.