7. Question No. 7—TransportRICARDO MENÉNDEZ MARCH (Green) to the Minister of TransportQuestion No. 7—Transport7. RICARDO MENÉNDEZ MARCH (Green) to the Minister of Transport: What steps if any will he take to ensure people have access to free frequent and accessible public transport?Hon MICHAEL WOOD (Minister of Transport): The Government is committed to supporting more people to travel by public transport and to ensuring that public transport is frequent reliable and accessible to support mode shift and our emissions reductions goals. The member will be familiar with announcements that were made yesterday that will assist significantly there over the next three months. In addition we have over the course of our time in Government increased public transport funding in the National Land Transport Fund from $336 million to $636 million. This has supported better outcomes such as new public transport services in places like Timaru which now has an on-demand public transport system; $2 fares for buses in Queenstown; major new infrastructure such as the Puhinui train station in Auckland partly funded by the regional fuel tax; and the Eastern Busway. I also announced earlier this year a pilot Community Connect card to provide half-price public transport to low-income earners in Auckland. I would note that while affordable fares are an important part of ensuring an accessible public transport system they're not the only part. Making public transport completely free would reduce the revenue coming into the system and much international evidence suggests that factors such as the frequency and reliability of services are actually more important in terms of driving patronage than free fares.Ricardo Menéndez March: Why not both increase the frequency of public transport services and make fares free?Hon MICHAEL WOOD: As I've outlined in my primary answer the Government is focused both on improving services—also on improving infrastructure—and on making sure that fares are as affordable as possible. I've noted the introduction of the Community Connect card on a trial basis in Auckland from 1 July which will halve fares for people on a community services card. That's a trial that we want to examine to see if it can be expanded further out. And of course as of yesterday the Government has announced a half-price public transport fare system for the next three months to assist people with cost challenges.Ricardo Menéndez March: Why did the Government yesterday not make public transport completely free in the same way it did in March 2020 which would allow people to better participate in their communities further reduce the cost of living and be quicker to implement?Hon MICHAEL WOOD: The Government announced a significant package of initiatives which will assist New Zealanders to meet cost challenges and to be able to connect in a more affordable way including significant reductions to the fuel excise duty and road-user charges and the half-price public transport fares over that period. As ever we have to consider carefully the priorities that we have where expenditure will go and what will achieve the best effect. I do note that there are some complexities involved in shifting towards a fare-free system. One that has been raised with me by local government for example is that one of the benefits of people having to pay fares whether it's via ticket or whether it's via card is that we collect good patronage data which enables services to be better planned and that would be potentially lost if there were free fares. So it's about priorities it's about where the investment best goes to get the outcomes we want and it's about some of these complexities that aren't always obvious on the surface.Ricardo Menéndez March: Will he commit to extending the discount on public transport fares beyond three months to address inequality and help reduce emissions; if not why not?Hon MICHAEL WOOD: This is a Government which has done more than any other to improve public transport services and to make fares more affordable. As I've outlined we have made a decision to provide funding to local authorities and Waka Kotahi to reduce those fares by half over the next three months and that is the commitment that we have made. Beyond that the Government has agreed that we will move forward with the Community Connect pilot in Auckland from 1 July. But as we move through the Budget process and into the future including our response within the emissions reduction plan we'll continue to look at what we can do to support more Kiwis into high-quality frequent public transport.Ricardo Menéndez March: Does he agree with Labour Party - endorsed Auckland mayoral candidate Efeso Collins who said about free public transport that If we are going to address our climate emissions this is the first and best way to do it."?Hon MICHAEL WOOD: As I've outlined there are a range of factors which have been shown to improve public transport patronage. Fares clearly have a place within that but actually much of the evidence is that the quality and the frequency of services is actually more significant. So there are choices for both central and local government leaders to make in terms of where resources go to get the best outcomes for the public transport system. As I always say to local government figures they also have a part to play here. If local government wants to put additional funding into the system to reduce fares they can do that in the same way that central government currently is.Ricardo Menéndez March: Does he think it would be easier to deliver frequent and good-quality public transport if our infrastructure and services were publicly owned?Hon MICHAEL WOOD: The Government is currently reviewing the public transport operating model and as a part of that process which is reaching its conclusions before coming to Cabinet the set of questions around the appropriate ownership and operations of public transport infrastructure are being considered. So that's something that I hope to have more to say about in the coming months."