Increasing bus fares another ‘worry’ for parents

Parents who are already living week-to-week are coming under additional financial pressure after the removal of a Government subsidy for children on public transport and the upcoming increase for the eBus service.

Half-price fares for under-25s and free fares for under-13s ended on 1 May.

Children aged 5-12 now pay half-price, and people aged 18-24 now pay full price on Nelson Tasman’s eBus service. Children aged 13-18 saw no change and continue to pay half-price.

However, the Nelson and Tasman councils agreed last week to increase the cost of bus fares paid by Bee Card by 5 per cent from 1 July.

Kaz Bradley has three children who catch the bus from their home in Stoke to school in Richmond.

She was “gutted” to hear about the extra 5 per cent Bee Card fare increase.

“Normally changes like that don't really bother me, but at a time where everything like inflation has just been out the gate… your mortgage rates are going up and everything, people are really struggling,” she says. “It's just another thing to worry about.”

Her kids’ school trips have already gone from costing $10 a week to $30 with the removal of the subsidy, though often she ends up having to pay extra because the kids sometimes forget to tag-off the bus with their Bee Cards.

Kaz is living week-to-week because of the high cost of living and the increased bus fares aren’t helping.

“Say the kids needed bus money on their card, the first thing that's going to come out of is your food budget because it's the only one that's movable,” she says.

“We put the kids first, so it does mean we have the light lunch, or it's, noodles for dinner or toasted sandwiches, lack of vegetables.”

Nicki Hobden is also now having to pay $10 for her son’s trip from Stoke into Nelson for school.

“With the cost of living and stuff, it's just an extra cost that we don’t really need,” she said.

Her husband has taken up a second job to help cover her 11-year-old son’s tuition fees, and so she was “not really happy” to learn about the 5 per cent increase to Bee Card fares.

“We’ve cut everything back as much as we can,” she said.

“With rates going up and stuff, I don't know that the council needs to do that.”

Prior to May, the eBus service had only operated with the Government subsidy in place.

The eBus has seen large patronage growth since its launch in August last year, in recent months often reaching twice the number of passengers when compared with the former NBus service it replaced, with March seeing a record 91,687 journeys.

About 10 per cent of eBus passengers were able to take advantage of the Government subsidy and ride the eBus for free.

The council is anticipating a “slight decrease” in patronage with the removal of the subsidy.

“Using the eBus is still a more convenient and cost-effective option for many students than a parent doing the school trip by car or using a Ministry of Education bus,” says Nelson City Council’s acting group manager infrastructure, David Light.

He highlighted that past research from Environment Canterbury suggested that price was not the most important factor that determines if someone uses public transport.

The 5 per cent increase to Bee Card fares comes as the councils have opted to make small increases over several years to ensure the eBus service remains sustainable given rising costs in many areas, rather than larger increases.

The decision also brings the service closer to the farebox recovery ratio anticipated in the upcoming Government Policy Statement on Transport.