Wellingtonians are set to lose out on 59 new buses and dozens of services. Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone
Wellingtonians will lose out on 59 new buses and dozens of services, due to a lack of funding and the need to hit more ambitious revenue targets set by the government.
But passengers have been saved from huge fare hikes, with regional councillors voting to adopt lower targets than requested by NZTA for private share - that is, the money made through fares and advertising - between now and 2027.
The council's initial estimates put fare increases as high as 70 percent in the next three years, in order to meet the targets NZTA first put forward.
The need for public transport authorities to increase their revenue was set out in the government's latest policy statement (GPS), which NZTA was charged with implementing on its behalf.
"This GPS will expect greater farebox recovery and third-party revenue by Public Transport Authorities (PTAs) in order to help support the increased costs that are occurring through the public transport sector and to reduce pressure on ratepayers and taxpayers," it said.
Greater Wellington Regional Council chairperson Daran Ponter said it was committed to growing private revenue as required.
"But meeting the initial targets would have led to unaffordable fare hikes and services being slashed, which ultimately is counterproductive."
Instead, councillors voted on Thursday to put fares up from July by only 2.2 percent. Alongside that, the off-peak travel discount would drop from 50 percent to 30.
But the council said further cuts to services and projects would still need to be made.
The number of new buses planned for purchase over the next three years would have to drop from 106 to 47, and Metlink would use 30 diesel buses in the interim to reduce infrastructure investment costs for electric vehicles.
Fifty bus services would be cut or merged, including 10 after-midnight services and 11 school bus services.
Plans for three on-demand service rollouts, including in Tawa, would be ditched, and upgrades for technology systems nearing obsolescence would not go ahead, saving $11 million.
Transport Committee chairperson Thomas Nash said the council's ability to meet NZTA's initial targets was made impossible by the government declining funding for Metlink projects worth $134 million late last year.
The council had worked hard to provide a "pragmatic picture of public transport operations", Nash said.
"The value of public transport needs to be better communicated and better understood."
It would be investigating new methods to make money through advertising, despite Metlink's view that the market was nearing saturation, as well as battling an economic downturn.
The interim targets agreed upon on Thursday are 23.9 percent in financial year 2024/25, 25.1 percent in 2025/26, and 25.7 percent for 2026/27.
Councillors had also voted through some stretch targets for years beyond 2027, which would see private revenue rising to 33 percent by 2034.
But that would be conditional on government funding for projects including the redevelopment of Waterloo Station, new long-distance commuter services as part of the Lower North Island Rail Integrated Mobility project, and infrastructure to achieve a 15-minute peak rail timetable.
The targets would be presented to NZTA for approval by its board by the end of May, and then incorporated into Greater Wellington's proposed Annual Plan 2025/26.
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