Fares rise in last stage of Hop project

Dr Levy said the "die was cast" some years ago on the alignment process. Photo / Sarah Ivey

Better prices may be in store for Auckland public transport users despite fare rises targeted at students and buyers of multiple-trip tickets.

Auckland Transport chairman Lester Levy said last night the increases on Monday would be the final instalment in a three-year process of aligning bus and rail fares for the introduction of the $100 million Hop smart-card project.

There will be no general fare rise, but students face increases of 7c to 40c a trip and adults will pay between 2c and 22c more to travel on trains with Hop cards or on buses with 10-ride tickets.

Dr Levy, who has been six months in the job, said the "die was cast" some years ago on the alignment process.

But now that was complete, a comprehensive review was needed to achieve "attractive and affordable pricing - a process by which we can attract a significant uplift of people on to public transport".

"Pricing may well be an important element - that might mean better pricing than we currently have."

He hoped market research would be conducted to find "a much more strategic way of pricing in order to make the public transport system more attractive to use and more commercial to run".

A staff report to the board said Hop cards were used for 66.5 per cent of train trips in April, six months after their introduction to rail.