"We're doing it simply out of goodwill, because we thought fairness would prevail, but it obviously hasn't."
He was referring to a moratorium the Government has imposed against new services joining the SuperGold travel concession scheme while it is being reviewed to ensure its costs "remain sustainable."
His company had initially expected the review to be completed by the end of last year, but had since heard that would not happen until at least June, and could not wait that long for subsidy relief.
Not only was it letting seniors travel free, but it was also paying a wharf tax of more than $1 each way for each one carried.
The scheme's annual cost of $18 million after Labour and New Zealand First introduced it just before National swept to power in 2008 has since risen to $26 million, of which Fullers receives a capped payment of $1.5 million.
In 2013, according to the Ministry of Transport's website, the scheme offered about 630,000 SuperGold card holders "increased mobility and greater access to their community", a number rising by about 20,000 a year.
Mr Goodfellow said his ferries carried "thousands" of card holders each month and the company argued it was not providing a new service but a variation of an existing one.
That view is shared by the Waiheke Ferry Users Group and its chairman, Daniel Silva, who says the Government's refusal to pay a subsidy to all operators in the same market is "inherently anti-competitive."
"This is purely a situation of the Government reimbursing one competitor but not another, creating an uneven playing field."
Associate Transport Minister Craig Foss, who is dealing with the issue, could not be reached for comment but a statement from the ministry says the moratorium was imposed in 2010 to ensure the scheme's costs remained sustainable.
"A review is currently underway exploring operations for sustainable funding of the SuperGold Card scheme," the ministry said.
"At this stage, no decisions on the review or the future of the moratorium have been made."
Loyalties torn for regular commuter
SuperGold Card-holder Deb Taylor fears her loyalties will be torn if she has to start paying to ride on Explore ferries between Waiheke Island and Auckland.
"I'm terribly concerned," said Mrs Taylor, a Waiheke resident who uses her card to travel between the island and Auckland up to three times a week.
"We try to support Explore but if they start charging, we may have to think about it," she said as she boarded a ferry home from Auckland on Friday night.
"This is a much better service, a smart vessel, and the crew are lovely."
Mrs Taylor, who retired to Onetangi on the island with her husband two years ago, says the main benefit of the new service is the extra timetable choice it offers passengers.
That allowed her to travel to Auckland on the hour on a Fullers ferry on Friday, but to head home at half past the hour with Explore, to best suit her schedule.
She hoped the Government would come to the party and share its travel subsidies with Explore, given that it was "supposed to support competition."
