Free Hamilton buses for youth extends to holidays

The free bus fares for youth trial in Hamilton has been expanded to include the school holidays. Photo / Supplied

The free bus fares for youth trial in Hamilton have been expanded from only weekends to include the school holidays.

The motion came before the Hamilton City Council on Tuesday to use an existing revenue stream, the bus shelter ads, to fund the trial being expanded to holidays.

The bus shelter ads have been overperforming, with many becoming digital, which has increased their revenue.

Councillor Dave Macpherson said the opportunity is one that is well worth taking given the data from the first two months of the free weekend fares for youth.

"We've shown that when we put an attractive proposition in front of that age group [18 and under], that there's a good take up.

"The problem is that it's only on two days of the week. During the holidays, it's pretty obvious that students like to be just as mobile Monday through Friday as they do on Saturday and Sunday. And this gives them the opportunity to continue their experiment."

Councillor Geoff Taylor shared that sentiment and said it aligns with what they have been trying to do throughout their term, "promote transport choice".

He made mention of some of the other types of transport that have been added to the city like Lime Scooters and ebikes.

"This is what we should be doing as a city, we're trying to encourage the habit. And encouraging the habit with young people is surely the place to start."

Councillor Garry Mallett said, "I think there's something flawed in the theory that if you learn how to get used to using a bus when you're a kid, you'll use it as an adult."

He likened it to riding a bike as a kid, where it was so common that you felt like the bike was a part of you but said that hasn't made him want to ride a bike as an adult.

Before the vote, mayor Andrew King gave final comments about benefits that he could see coming out of this such as the environmental effect and decluttering of the roads.

With children riding the bus, parents and caregivers would not need to make multiple trips in their own cars, first to drop a child off and again to pick them up.

He said, "For each trip, a bus takes up to 60 people, that's a lot of cars when you line up 60 cars.

"And the bus is already paid for, the capitol has been spent, the driver is already being paid and the fuel is already being used, but the buses have only got 2-6 people on them outside of rush hours. It just makes sense to fill the buses."

The motion was voted in favour of with 11 for and 1 against, Mr Mallet dissenting.