Auckland Transport investigates streamlining 'terrible process' of loading student discounts on Hop Cards

Auckland Transport is looking at how to make it easier for students to get the discount loaded on their Hop Cards following complaints. Image / Auckland Transport

Auckland Transport is investigating ways of streamlining how it issues discounts to students using public transport after its users labelled the five-step process as unnecessary complicated and time consuming.

Auckland Transport offers discounts for students using Hop Cards, but the process has been criticised by students who say they had to wait in two queues, as well as applying online before their cards were validated.

Hamish Liddy, who is studying bio-medicine at the University of Auckland, told the Herald he was surprised at how terrible the process was.

Students wanting to get the discount on public transport must first queue to get an Auckland Transport (AT) tertiary sticker on their ID card at the university, submit the concession application online and then visit an AT customer service centre or pop-up concession kiosk to get the concession loaded on the Hop Card.

"It seems like Auckland Transport has got all the hallmarks of applying the paper process to an electronic system," Liddy said.

"Basically you end up standing in queues all day."

Liddy, who has returned to studying after a break, did not see why AT had to issue its own ID numbers when it could use the number already on student ID cards.

The 30-year-old applied for the concession at the start of March and said it took him 45 minutes because there were no delays. However, he said, each queue had between 50 to 100 people in them and many students left the lines exasperated.

"Having a terrible process is another little way people get put off using public transport when we should be making it as easy as possible."

Other students told AUT student magazine Te Waha Nui that they had to wait up to one hour a customer service desks to get the reduced rate.

According to Te Waha Nui Auckland University student Johaina Jaffer said the process was time consuming and meant she had to travel to different campuses and locations to in order to get the discount.

But AT spokesman Mark Hannan said Auckland Transport was investigating how to streamline the concession process, but it had to weigh up providing the best service possible for students while providing the best value for the ratepayers who funded it.

Hannan said extra staff and four pop-up centres, along with the 10 service centres, were added to cope with the concession season at the start of the tertiary year. In March more than 37,000 concessions were processed.