Otago Regional Council today decided to retain the 100% discount (free fares) for children aged 5 – 12, to be consulted on as part of the draft Regional Public Transport Plan (RPTP).

The council also agreed that, for consultation purposes for the RPTP, it will consider an increase to the adult Bee Card fare to $2.50. These changes will be consulted on in the RPTP, due out later this year. The Council considered the changes after the government asked councils and transport authorities to increase their private share – that is, the proportion of the total cost of providing public transport that comes from things other than rates or government funding.

The government request, which was made late last year, made headlines when Auckland Transport and Greater Wellington’s Metlink noted that meeting the targets would require fare increases of up to 70%. In Canterbury, ECan worked out that a four-fold increase in fares on the Metro services would be needed to meet the new targets.

The proposed changes will be consulted on as part of the RPTP 2025 – 2035 in late March and April, subject to the draft plan being approved by Council for consultation on 19 March.

Otago Regional Council Chairperson Gretchen Robertson says, “We acknowledge the Government’s direction here, which is that we need to increase the private share or fares and are looking forward to having this conversation as part of the RPTP consultation.”

“These proposed changes still need to be approved as a draft within the RPTP by Council and consulted on in the community. Then the Council will consider adoption of the RPTP at the end of June. Part of considering the RPTP will be taking on board the community feedback about potential fare changes.”

The recommendation was passed unanimously.

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