Pensioners hopping mad over new 'free' card costs

Auckland Transport says thousands of seniors either have the AT Hop card ready to go or have started the process to get one. Photo / Wairarapa Times-Age

A pensioners' lobby group is fuming at the sign-up fee for the new AT Hop card.

Auckland Transport says thousands of seniors either have the AT Hop card ready to go or have started the process to get one.

AT spokesman Mark Hannan said Ministry of Social Development details indicated there were 90,000 people in Auckland likely to use the concession, but admitted there still may be some seniors yet to go through the process. There will be an unspecified grace period after today's deadline so seniors with a SuperGold card will still get their free fares.

He believed the two-month switch period had gone well.

"There have been issues along the way but the response has been excellent. For instance on Thursday morning we processed 172 applications in a two-hour period in our mobile unit at the Massey Library."

However, one woman said it was "easier to get a trip to the moon than to get a Hop card". And Grey Power says the requirement to buy the AT Hop card for $10 and have $5 mandatory credit loaded undermined the Government's promise to SuperGold card holders of free public transport in off-peak times anywhere in New Zealand. Amelia Wade