SuperGold Card public transport funding Te tiri pūtea mō te whakamahi Kāri Kōura i ngā waka tūmatanui

The Government shifted to a bulk funding approach for the scheme instead of individual fare reimbursements, with the level of funding agreed between regional councils and Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency.

Future projections show the number of people aged over 65 continuing to grow. To keep reimbursing individual fares would mean the scheme’s costs would continue to rise rapidly. Moving to bulk funding also brought SuperGold Card funding in line with the way other public transport funding is allocated. Any cost overruns must be funded by councils, encouraging cost savings and efficiencies.

Funding for the scheme was capped at NZD$28.129 million for the next 5 years, with annual adjustments to account for inflation.

The Government removed the freeze on new services entering the scheme, which increased the range of services available, particularly in rural and provincial areas. 

To be part of the scheme, new services must:

• be contracted to regional council
• not be identified as an exempt service be identified within a Regional Public Transport Plan.

As a result of the review, the Government announced it would lift the freeze on new services entering the scheme, cap Crown funding for the next 5 years and introduce bulk funding.

The targeted review looked at how the scheme operated and how the guidelines might change to keep it affordable, focusing on:

• reviewing whether the freeze on new transport services entering the scheme could be lifted
• if the freeze was lifted, determining what criteria would be used to determine entry into the scheme
• considering a national policy for the use of smartcards under the SuperGold card travel concession scheme
• considering reimbursement calculation methods including average fare calculations.

The review also ensured current cardholder entitlements stayed the same.

The Government would also:

• cap Crown funding for exempt services at their current levels
• allow tendering on the Waiheke Island route where there is competition
• require SuperGold Card holders to purchase smartcards as smartcard ticketing systems become available.

In response to the review and consultation the Government increased the scheme’s funding to provide for growing demand.  They put a freeze on new services entering the scheme to limit how much it cost to maintain it.

After the first 12 months of operation it became clear that the scheme was not financially sustainable with the funding available.

The review aimed to develop recommendations to change the scheme in a way that was fair to all while delivering enough cost savings to make it financially sustainable for the next few years.

Key stakeholders and partners such as user representatives, public transport operators and regional councils were asked for feedback on the options to change the scheme.

We received 145 submissions in response to the consultation document. All but a small handful of submissions supported the scheme as it was and all argued that funding for the scheme should be increased to match the numbers using it.

The off-peak public transport scheme had 3 key principles — it was a national scheme, users traveled for free, and off-peak capacity could accommodate increased numbers.

Government projections on how many people would use the scheme were largely estimated as the initiative was new to New Zealand and there was little international data on similar schemes.

The Government announced a review would take place after the first 12 months to identify any refinements required to ensure the scheme’s long-term financial sustainability.