SuperGold travellers unaffected by bus fare change

For immediate release: 4 March 2009

The Bay of Plenty’s older people will continue to receive free off-peak travel on Environment Bay of Plenty bus services and won’t be affected by the recent decision to introduce a new simplified fare structure on Tauranga bus services.

More than 40,000 older people in the Bay of Plenty are eligible for free travel on off-peak public transport services if they are SuperGold cardholders.

Environment Bay of Plenty’s Transport Committee voted recently to introduce a new simplified, flat-fare system for Tauranga buses Monday 29 June 2009.

Transport Committee Chairman Andrew von Dadelszen welcomed the new fare system, but said it would not affect SuperGold cardholders, who would still be able to travel free on the buses during off-peak times.

“Many mature residents had relished the ability to travel free on buses and at this time there was not plan to change this great initiative,” Councillor von Dadelszen said.

“I urge all SuperGold cardholders to continue to take advantage of free off-peak bus services and take the stress out of travelling.”

Since the initiative started on 1 October 2008, the number of older people in the Bay of Plenty travelling by bus has increased significantly.

For Tauranga in January 2009 we carried 14,556 seniors, while in January 2008 (before the free travel for SuperGold cardholders was introduced) we carried 3629 seniors.

In Rotorua the January 2009 figure was 5209 and January 2008 figures are not available as we did not previously have a concession or senior fare on these services.

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