1. When are fares going up?
Fares for buses, trains and the harbour ferry will go up from Monday 1 September 2008.

2. Why are fares going up?
Fares are going up to meet the rising costs of public transport. Great Wellington’s rail operating contracts will cost $2.5 million more this financial year (2008/09) due largely to increased labour costs, while bus operating contracts have cost us $2.4 million more in the last year due largely to oil prices. It is estimated that  diesel bus contract will cost significantly more this financial year due to soaring oil prices. There have also been increases in the cost of maintaining infrastructure such as bus shelters, car parks and trolley bus overhead wires.
To help meet these increased costs, Greater Wellington Regional Council has approved, in its annual plan, a $1.7m increase in revenue from fares. Rates have also been increased to meet public transport costs.
Greater Wellington is not alone in its need to raise fares to meet rising costs. Other regional councils, from Northland to Otago, are also raising fares.

3. When fares went up last time, new zones were created. Are there changes to zones this time?
No, all zone boundaries remain the same.

4. How much are fares going up?
Adult cash fares for a city section and for one zone won’t change. Adult cash fares for two, three and four zones will increase by 50c and adult cash fares for five to 14 zones will increase by $1.
The majority of passengers use Smartcards, ten-trip tickets, monthly passes or quarterly passes, so the increases will be less for them. 
- Smartcard fares are priced at a maximum of 80% of the single cash fare
- 10-trip tickets are priced at eight times the single cash fare
- Rail monthly tickets are priced at three times the 10-trip ticket price
- Rail quarterly tickets are priced at three times the monthly price, less 5%
- Rail school term tickets are priced at 2.5 times the monthly price

5. Will there be other fare increases in addition to those set by Greater Wellington?
Yes. A range of commercial services are provided by individual transport operators. Greater Wellington does not contract the operators to provide these services, and does not set the fares.
Operators have decided to raise the fares of many of their commercial services from 1 September. These include the Kapiti Commuter, Airport Flyer and some school bus services.

6. Why isn’t the fare increase an across-the-board percentage increase?
An across-the boad percentage increase has not been used, for the following reasons :
- Greater Wellington’s policy is that fares must be rounded to the nearest 50c to make cash handling easy for passengers, train guards and bus drivers. This speeds up bus boarding times. 
- The zone structure of Wellington’s public transport network was introduced only two years ago and fares across all zones are still not relative to one another. The adjustments in September across five of the zones affected will bring them more into line with. neighbouring zones.
- Fares for some services (e.g. After-Midnight services) have increased by up to $2 as their costs are very high in relation to passenger numbers.

7. What is the increase in concession fare?
There is no change to concession fares for one to three zones. Single cash concession fares for all other zones will increase by 50c.

8. What fares are not changing and why?
City section and  one zone adult fares have not changed because the rounding policy would require them to be increased from $1 to $1.50 and $1.50 to $2 respectively – increases of 50% and 33%. Many people who travel in these zones are taking a bus to or from rail stations, so they would be doubly affected by any fare increase.
The unchanged one zone fare means that Paraparaumu residents, for example, who take a bus from home to Paraparaumu Station, and then a bus from Wellington Railway Station to work, will face an increase in only one component of their commuter trip – their train fare. Their bus fares will not change.
Concession fares for one to three zones are not changing because of the potentially high increases caused by the 50c rounding policy.

9. Why are some fares increasing by $1 and others by only 50c?
Any increase needs to be at least 50c because of the rounding policy.
Other fares, such as the adult cash fares for five zones, are being increased from $4.50 to $5.50 to bring them more into line with fares for zones on either side of them, e.g. the new four zone fare will be $4.50 and the new six zone fare will be $7.
Obviously these increases have a much greater impact on fare payers in some zones than others. When fares are next reviewed, Greater Wellington will take into account the impacts of these current increases to try to spread  increases evenly over all zones.

10. Why are some Johnsonville train fares increasing more than other fares in the same zone?
For many years, and well before Greater Wellington took over provision of public transport services, Johnsonville train fares were less than other comparable fares. Two years ago all fares became part of a zone structure, i.e. the region was organised into 14 different zones, based on their relative distance from Wellington. All fares were brought into line as much as possible but some Johnsonville fares were still not in line with the others. These included the ‘Peace Train’ monthly and quarterly fares. This increase begins to bring these Johnsonville Line fares into line with other three zone fares.

11. How much are harbour ferry fares increasing?
A one-way adult ferry fare from Days Bay to Queens Wharf will increase from $8.50 to $10 and a 10-trip ticket will increase from $70 to $80. Under the fare changes, the harbour ferry fare will become a nine zone fare, whereas the bus equivalent is six zones. A ferry trip between Seatoun and Queens Wharf will be a six- zone fare. The bus equivalent is three zones. The higher prices reflect the premium nature of the ferry service.

12. How much are Cable Car fares increasing?
Cable Car fares are not covered by Metlink so they are not affected.

13. When do the new prices for monthly, quarterly and school term passes take effect?
All fare increases will take effect from 1 September 2008. All tickets and passes that are valid for use before 1 September will be sold at the old price. These include Go Rider monthly, Runciman Commuter monthly, Kapiti Commuter monthly, rail monthly and quarterly.
Passes for the third school term this year will be sold at the old price. 
Tickets and passes valid for first use on or after 1 September, but purchased before that date, will be sold at the new price.

14. Why not raise fares when significant public transport improvements have begun?
Fares are going up to meet increasing costs, not to fund improvements. Greater Wellington is facing hefty cost increases to merely keep current services operating.
Significant improvements have been made to the Metlink network over the past two years, including:
- Three new, vastly improved Wairarapa trains
- Eight new Wellington City trolley buses with wheelchair access and capacity to carry 30% more passengers than the old ones. More new trolley buses will be introduced progressively throughout the next two years
- Extra peak hour bus services in Wellington City and northern suburbs
- Redevelopment of the Upper Hutt Station subway
- A new subway, and enhanced lighting, landscaping and car parking at Plimmerton Station
- Sixty-one new car parks at Paraparaumu Station
- A new purpose-built shelter on Days Bay Wharf
- Thirteen new bus shelters in Wellington City, Porirua, Lower Hutt, Kapiti and Wairarapa
- New super-low floor buses, with wheelchair access, in the Wairarapa, new weekend bus services between Featherston and Masterton, and an increase from two to five days per week for Masterton town bus services 
-Connections with all Wairarapa trains from Featherston to Martinborough, including weekend and late services
- Upgrades of stations on the Wairarapa line including new station signage, seating, more parking and better security, and platforms raised and lengths increased at various Wairarapa stations for the new trains
-New rail shelters at Renall Street, Woodside and Solway Stations.
-CCTV security upgrades at the Wellington rail yard, and Masterton, Renall Street, Carterton and Featherston Stations, and at Waterloo and Woburn commuter car parks.

However, there is still a great deal to do. It’s a fact that, excluding Wairarapa, the trains are old and unreliable. Unfortunately, new trains can’t be built in a short time. To help meet peak hour demand, three refurbished trains will begin coming into service from September this year. They will remain in service until the new Matangi trains arrive in 2010.

15. Why are fares and rates going up because of public transport costs?
Greater Wellington’s policy is that the cost of providing public transport services be met approximately by:
Passengers   50%
Ratepayers  25%
Land Transport NZ 25%
If the cost of providing services increases, all three of the contributors are expected to contribute towards the increase. Land Transport NZ has contributed more and rates have been increased.
Rates are going up not only because of rising public transport costs. The costs of flood protection, running regional parks and all the council’s environmental work have also increased.

16. Why is the increase in oil prices being given as the reason for the increase when most of the trains and trolley buses are electric?
Oil prices are the biggest single factor in the increasing cost of our public transport network as a whole, but they are not the only factor. Other cost increases include the rail operating contract and the maintenance of public transport infrastructure.
Fares are increasing to meet the costs of running the entire public transport network, not just diesel buses or trains.
Fares are based on zones, so whether you catch a diesel bus, trolley bus or train, your fare is based on the distance you’re travelling, not the type of public transport you’re taking (with the exception of the harbour ferry). Integrating our public transport network fare system in this way is an important step towards integrated ticketing, where one ticket can be used on all modes of transport.

17. If patronage is increasing, doesn’t that mean that Greater Wellington is receiving more money to pay for the cost increases?
Patronage is increasing, but not at a rate fast enough to off-set the cost increases. And patronage increases bring their own costs, with extra vehicles and services being needed to meet the increased demand.

18. Won’t a fare increase deter people from choosing public transport?
Fare increases are not pleasant, but the cost of running public transport is increasing, and providers of public transport in other main centres around New Zealand are also being forced to put up fares.
Even with the fare increases, public transport is still very good value for money and is cheaper than taking the car.
For example:
-  A bus trip from Wainuiomata to Wellington, using a 10-trip ticket, is still $1.30 less than it would cost to drive based on car running costs, such as petrol, tyres and maintenance. 
-  A bus or train trip from Upper Hutt to Wellington, at the new 10-trip price, will cost $6.40, compared to $9 in a car. 
-  A train trip from Paraparaumu to Wellington, using a 10-trip ticket, will cost $8 from 1 September, compared to $13.60 in a car. 
-  A train trip to Masterton, using a 10-trip ticket, will cost $12 compared to $26.93 in a car.
But public transport is not just about a cheaper form of travel, it is also about sustainability. People are becoming increasingly aware that they can make a sustainable transport choice by leaving their car at home and taking the train, bus or ferry. It’s convenient, easy to use and there are no parking stresses or costs.

19. If fare payers and rate payers are paying more for public transport, shouldn’t central government be putting more money in?
Central government puts significant money into our public transport network and is paying a large portion of the cost of improvements, such as the new trains that are due to arrive in 2010. But that funding is on the condition that Greater Wellington increases the local contribution, for which there are only two sources – fares and rates. Both are being increased.
Greater Wellington Regional Council is working with the government to try and secure more funding.

20. The last fare increase was in 2006 – is a fare increase going to be a regular two yearly event?
In future, fares will be increased annually so the level of increases can be kept to a minimum.
The issue of the 50 cent rounding will remain a challenge until electronic ticketing makes it possible to adjust all fares by a similar percentage if required. Until then, and until all zones are relative in price, fare adjustments will be lumpy. Every effort will be made to ensure that increases will be spread evenly over time and that those fare payers affected more than others one time will not be affected so much the next time.