Subscribe to RSSRWC Transport Passes A Success
Auckland Transport is hailing the first attempt at a multi-mode transport card for Auckland as a success.
1228 special A-Passes were sold to RWC visitors.
They were advertised as for “just $15 a day (it) gives you access to almost all Auckland buses, trains and ferries, giving you the freedom to see our beautiful city the way you want to.”
A Pass tag post at Kingsland train station
Over half -57%- of the passes were purchased through the ticket office at Britomart.
Communications Chief Wally Thomas in a report says the initial expectations were that the pass would be mainly used for ferry travel in particular.
However, use has been highest on bus (70%), followed by ferry (23%) and rail (7%), indicating that visitors have been travelling outside of the inner CBD during their time in Auckland.
A-Pass sales were highest on match days, which suggests to AT that people are sightseeing as part of the overall match-day experience. Other significant sales periods are one day either side of matches.
A report to the next AT Board meeting says of the next steps for integrated ticketing:
The focus of the programme team is on preparatory activity for the next stages of the programme; Limited Functionality Pilot commencing February 2012 and CORE system rollout from mid-2012. In parallel with this activity, discussions are progressing with the second supplier of bus equipment, Parkeon. Negotiations between Parkeon and a consortium of bus operators are progressing well and are expected to be finalised shortly.
Public support for HOP on NZBus has grown again in the past month, with active users of the HOP smartcard rising from 77,000 last month to 88,000 this month.
2 Comments
Big deal - Of course they would be a success, I carry a number of cards, Octopus, ezlink, Oyster, Isar, Tap and some others cant immediately recall with sufficient sums loaded to keep me sorted on arrival in various places. Watching auckland transport dither around on this is as rivetting as watching paint dry.
It’s good to know they’re starting to get some useful data start to trickle in for usage stats - Auckland Transport know that visitors have used PT for travel outside the CBD. They would never have got that kind of information from the incumbent ticketing system (or lack thereof).
Looking forward to Auckland Transport being able to plan for actual travel patterns.