Subscribe to RSSCouncil Worries Govt Scheme Hurts Public Transport
Concern seems to be growing amongst local authorities about the government’s new scheme , which is set to increase passenger transport fares.
A report to the Auckland City council joins the ARC with worries that the government’s new farebox recovery scheme may hinder the further growth in public transport at a time when services need to be developed ahead of projected population growth.
The city council’s transport analyst says setting the same farebox recovery target for Auckland, Wellington and Canterbury, as proposed, may not just lead to increases in fare prices but result in new public transport services not being established and existing low usage transport services, that may meet some ratepayers essential needs, being discontinued.
The report recommends regional councils set their own targets, an evidence-based assessment is used to set targets, targets should not impact public transport patronage and targets should allow transport services to be developed to cater for future growth.
Background on this complex issue:
Farebox is the revenue collected from public transport passengers. A farebox recovery ratio measures the contribution fares make to the cost of providing public transport services, and is typically expressed as a percentage.
The responsible regional council and the NZTA cover any funding shortfall from farebox recovery. Typically, this is split fifty-fifty between the agencies. Farebox recovery ratio typically covers between 25-50 per cent of public transport costs. Regional councils and NZTA cover the remaining 25-33 per cent of costs for each agency. Currently, NZTA collects information on the farebox recovery ratio as a monitoring tool. Regional councils, who are the providers of public transport services, have no obligation to meet any ratio target.
The draft policy proposes that regional councils and ARTA are required to develop and adopt a Farebox Recovery Policy. A key component of those policies would be the setting of a farebox recovery ratio target. A recommended standardised method for calculating farebox recovery ratios is included. The ratio would be measured across the whole network and would include free, contracted and commercial services.
The target ratio would need to be reached within three years or NZTA funding would be at risk. The policy suggests two options for setting targets. Targets would be either set by individual regional councils or the NZTA would set a 50 per cent target for Auckland, Wellington and Canterbury (all other councils set their own). Auckland’s 2007/2008 ratio was 43.6 per cent.
1 Comments
I’ve just come across your informative site - thank you for encouraging debate & discussion on Auckland’s public transport issues… especially the review of ‘farebox recovery’, which begs the question as to the need for fareboxes if we really want to get people out of cars and onto public transport big-time.
You may be interested in checking out our blogsite promoting fare-free public transport as a solution to the city’s major congestion woes:
farefreenz.blogspot.com
Cheers,
Roger.