Wellington Mayoral candidate Andrew Little unveils key public transport policy

• Andrew Little is pledging a cap on bus and train fares for Wellington commuters, limiting costs to eight trips weekly.
• Little believes it would save commuters hundreds of dollars every year.
• The fare cap is forecast to cost $4.5 million per year and would be paid for and delivered by the Greater Wellington Regional Council.

Labour’s Andrew Little is pledging a cap on bus and train fares for Wellington commuters should he become mayor.

Braving the rain outside a bus stop in Wellington‘s Island Bay this morning, Little announced his key public transport policy which would see commuters pay for a maximum eight bus and train tips a week. Any trips after that would be free.

Little, who describes himself as a “regular bus user” said an adult who commutes from Newtown to Lambton Quay daily could save up to $300 per year, and if they took two weekend trips, could save $600.

The policy would apply for both the bus and train network.

Setting public transport fares is the responsibility of Greater Wellington Regional Council, not Wellington City Council, which has no control of the network.

Alongside the mayoral hopeful were Labour’s regional council candidates Tom James and Daran Ponter, who is currently GWRC’s chair.

Little said it is a joint Labour policy which the candidates would work together to implement if elected.

Wellington's Metlink buses on Lambton Quay in the capital's CBD. Photo / Mark Mitchell

“This fare cap will make a small but material difference to people’s back pockets”, he said, as well as encouraging public transport use and therefore reducing the city’s climate emissions.

It’s similar to Auckland’s $50 per week fare cap introduced last year, which Mayor Wayne Brown said would help Aucklanders struggling with the cost of living.

Asked if he took inspiration from Brown for this policy, Little said Brown is an “inspiring character for a lot of reasons” but said this policy is about meeting Wellington’s needs.

Ponter who was first elected to the regional council in 2010, said the policy is forecast to cost around $4.5m per annum, which he is confident the council can afford if they “juggle other things”.

The candidates said it is expected to increase demand on the city’s bus network by 300,000 trips per year.

The policy would be delivered “within the next local government term”.

Little also pledged to advocate to the Transport Minister “to get a better deal for our region”, by asking for an amendment to the Government Policy Statement on land transport to remove the requirement for annual fare increases.

Asked about cycleways, which have become a contentious issue in Little’s suburb of Island Bay, he said he generally supports them but said “the question is making sure they’re implemented well”.

Ethan Manera New Zealand Herald journalist based in Wellington. He joined NZME in 2023 as a broadcast journalist and is interested in local issues, politics and property in the capital. Ethan can be emailed at ethan.manera@nzme.co.nz.