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Labour is pledging to cap weekly public transport costs across the country to $20 in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch, and $10 for all other areas. The policy, which the party says would be introduced from July next year, breaks Labour’s election policy drought after leader Chris Hipkins said his party would wait until after the Government’s Budget to unveil more of its pitch to voters ahead of November 7. Hipkins is speaking to media about his policy about 11am from Auckland. A livestream will be available at the top of this article. Labour’s policy states once a public transport commuter reached their price cap, the rest of their trips for that week would be free. Labour claimed it would save commuters on average about $25 per week or $1200 per year. The party said the policy would cost about $65 million per year and it would be funded from the National Land Transport Fund. Labour’s policy document stated the cost was “less than 1% of the National Land Transport Fund”. It did not expand on where that funding would be redirected from. The weekly price cap didn’t apply to some inter-regional travel, such as the Te Huia train between Hamilton and Auckland, the Capital Connection train between Palmerston North and Wellington, the Mainlander train in Christchurch and InterCity buses. Not all ferries were included. The policy document identified Wellington’s East-By-West, Lyttelton’s Diamond Harbour ferry and Auckland’s inner-harbour ferries as included. It also noted “cash-only” bus services like those in Marlborough wouldn’t be included as they didn’t have the capacity to implement card-based fare caps. The document said most existing payment systems supported a weekly fixed fare but the card or app used would differ based on what part of the country people lived in. It argued public transport networks could cope with increased demand, claiming networks across main centres had “additional capacity, particularly offpeak and on routes”. “Our fare cap is a major cost-of-living commitment designed to put money back into the pockets of commuters, students and families,” Hipkins said in a statement. Labour transport spokesman Tangi Utikere was concerned people were getting “priced out” of using public transport. “Families deserve certainty. Under Labour’s weekly fare cap, people will know exactly what the maximum cost of getting around will be each week.” National leader Christopher Luxon will likely react to the policy when he speaks to media from Fieldays in Mystery Creek, Waikato. Adam Pearse is the Deputy Political Editor and part of the NZ Herald’s Press Gallery team based at Parliament in Wellington. He has worked for NZME since 2018, reporting for the Northern Advocate in Whangārei and the Herald in Auckland.
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