New Zealanders will be able to use contactless debit card payment and other services like Apple Pay to pay for public transport fares under a new National Ticketing Solution (NTS) announced on Friday.
A contract for the service will be signed on Friday between Waka Kotahi and supplier Cubic. Participation agreements have been finalised with transport authorities in Auckland, Wellington, and Canterbury and with a consortium of 10 smaller councils.
The single payment system will begin being rolled out in Canterbury in 2024 and will be available in all other participating council areas by 2026.
Current public transport cards, like the Auckland Transport HOP cards or Wellington's Snapper cards, will no longer be required. But there will still be a national transit card for people who don't want to use other payment services.
Fares will still be set by local transport authorities for their own areas.
"Customers will be able to choose what payment method works best for them," said Transport Minister Michael Wood.
"They will be able to pay for public transport using contactless debit or credit cards, as well as digital payment methods like Apple Pay or Google Pay, while still offering the option of using a pre-paid transit card.
"This new technology will allow daily weekly and monthly fare caps to be applied to travel automatically, meaning customers will be charged the best possible fare at the end of each day. It will also mean that when travelling to a new town, people will be able to pay using what’s already in their pocket, rather than having to buy a transit card specific to that region or fumble for cash."
It is being described by the minister as a "key milestone" in the effort to grow public transport use and cut down transport emissions.
“The NTS will be an enabler for change," Wood said. "To encourage public transport as the preferred travel choice for more people, more often, we must invest in modern technologies to improve the customer experience."
Wood told reporters on Friday that the system wouldn't come online until 2024, starting in Canterbury, as setting it up is a "complex job".
"It involves setting up payment systems, it involves transitioning from a system people are currently using, it involves making sure we have got the right back office IT to support that system," he said.
"The last thing you want is to rush something like this and have it go wrong."
The NTS will start in Canterbury as Wood said the region's current system already needs to be replaced in the next couple of years.
"That is the obvious and logical place to start off."
Cubic, a company based out of California, has its public transport fare collection technology in cities across the world, including London, New York and Chicago. It boasts of processing 24 billion transactions every year.
The contract with Waka Kotahi is set down for 15 years.
"Cubic have the proven experience of delivering this solution, meaning New Zealanders can have confidence that they are getting a platform that works," Wood said.
A national integrated ticketing service was mentioned in the Government's May Emissions Reduction Plan (ERP) as one way to improve the reach, frequency and quality of public transport in New Zealand.
The ERP outlined how the Government intended to cut emissions across different sectors, including transport, which makes up about 17 of New Zealand's gross domestic emissions and about 39 percent of carbon dioxide emissions.
By 2035, the Government wants to reduce the total amount of kilometres driven by the light vehicle fleet by 20 percent while increasing the number of zero-emission vehicles to 30 percent of the overall light-fleet. It also wants to reduce emissions from freight transport by 35 percent and the emissions intensity of transport fuel by 10 percent.
The full list of participating councils: Auckland Transport, Greater Wellington Regional Council, Environment Canterbury, Northland Regional Council, Waikato Regional Council, Bay of Plenty Regional Council, Taranaki Regional Council, Gisborne Regional Council, Horizons Regional Council, Hawkes Bay Regional Council, Nelson City Council, Otago Regional Council, and Invercargill City Council.
