Fare increase 2012

[eurokiwi78]

Whilst standing in a queue to buy a ticket a few days ago I pondered why there arent ticket machines at Wellington Railway Station.

[john-ston]

Bigger discounts for smart cards more likely to cut cash handling (remember that there is a charge for Snapper in Wellington, same as HOP in Auckland).

Perhaps they should test the theory out - bear in mind that Auckland would have more semi-frequent (i.e. more than once a week but not daily) bus users than Wellington.

[welliboi]

Whilst standing in a queue to buy a ticket a few days ago I pondered why there arent ticket machines at Wellington Railway Station.

Whooooaa....settle down there eurokiwi78...the year is 2012. Next minute you'll be telling me that there are machines that can dispense money, food, drinks and even cell phones!!
It's clearly too hard to do, and besides it would lead to less queues and better outcomes for customers, and we don't want that!!! LOL

[iandw]

Whats the difference between standing in a que for a ticket machine and a person behind a counter. They can a least say "hi" and smile at you.

[Daniel]

They can a least say "hi" and smile at you.

Not in NZ they don't!
In NZ there seems to be an acceptable customer service ethic where most of them behave like they'd rather never have to deal with you and often treat you with rudeness and contempt.
I would rather NZ got with the late 20th century and gave passengers the option of an automatic ticket dispensing machine.

[param1974]

Whats the difference between standing in a que for a ticket machine and a person behind a counter. They can a least say "hi" and smile at you.

You don't have to pay someone $13.50 an hour to put on an unfriendly face. Ticket machines rarely have queues. Counters normally do because at $13.50 per hour, they will employ as few counter staff as possible.

Good idea. Bring on the ticket machines

[eurokiwi78]

Looking at the cost of a few selected journeys within the region that require a transfer I cant help but think the transfer penalties are somewhat excessive.

For example
Karori - Petone is 7 stages of travel which should cost $6.80 if you get the discount for using a smartcard or ten trip, however due to the modal change it actually costs $7.30 so the penalty for the transfer on this trip is approx 7.5%.

Cannons Creek - Kilbirnie is 10 stages of travel which should cost $9.44 however in reality it will cost $10.74, thus the fiscal penalty incurred is 13-14%.

Upper Hutt - Courtenay Pl is 7 stages or $6.80, (you can catch the 91 and eliminate the transfer penalty but thats $9.20) so assuming you transferred only once (transferring between the 110 and 83 at Petone) the price is actually $7.72.

Or the train from Upper Hutt to Wellington then a city section bus fare is $8.30.

I hope integrated ticketing addressess these concerns of mine somewhat as it does influence the method in which people travel. Trips which can be completed utilizing only NZ bus services can have the transfer aspect reduced by buying Busabout, go Wellington or get about passes.

I wonder if city section or zone one bus travel added to monthly train passes would be popular.

[greenwelly]

I wonder if city section or zone one bus travel added to monthly train passes would be popular.

Why charge extra for it?, the Kapitiplus ticket adds Kapiti coast buses to rail travel travel to monthly passes to Paraparaumu and Waikanae for nothing...

[eurokiwi78]

What about if your journey requires a bus from wellington station to say karori? Kapiti plus is only valid for bus travel at the kapiti end.

I would like to see bus options at the wellington end for monthly train pass holders.

[ka9102]

there are also transfer penalties for crosstown rail connections: for instance:

how much would cost you to catch trains from woburn to porirua in the morning peak hours?

$5+$6= $11,it works out its 4 zones from woburn to wellington then you hop onto another train to porirua,which would cost you $6 for travelling across 5 zones.

but how many zones you actually travel across i terms of fare boundaries? 2!!

[The King]

And also if you travel from Woburn to Tawa for example, and you have a 10-trip for between Woburn and Wellington only, you have to pay cash for the journey between Wellington/Kaiwharawhara and Tawa because the Woburn 10-trip is not valid for Tawa even though it's the same amount of fare zones.

It would cost $8.86 for the journey ($3.86 for Woburn to Wellington/Kaiwharawhara and $5 for Wellington/Kaiwharawhara to Tawa) for a journey which should only cost $7.72.

[eurokiwi78]

Porirua -Woburn is an interesting one, The metlink fares brochure says count the number of zones you travel thru so I assume they interprete as 4 zones and 5 zones which would be 9 zones or $8.58 with a ten trip. It is the same price.

Could you actually use one monthly pass for that journey or would you need one for each line? The penalties for transfer are harsher when there is a modal change between operators involved.

[The King]

Porirua -Woburn is an interesting one, The metlink fares brochure says count the number of zones you travel thru so I assume they interprete as 4 zones and 5 zones which would be 9 zones or $8.58 with a ten trip. It is the same price.

Yep, you would have to count each zone you travel through - so 4 + 5 zones. Although if Kaiwharawhara was in zone 2 (for consistency with bus zones) then it would only be 3+4 zones

Could you actually use one monthly pass for that journey or would you need one for each line? The penalties for transfer are harsher when there is a modal change between operators involved

You would need a monthly pass for each line. For example, the monthly pass I get is only valid between Wellington and Waterloo/Melling (4 zones). But I can't use that same pass between Wellington and Linden (also 4 zones). Otherwise being able to use the same pass would mean I get a free ride between Wellington and Linden

[grunter]

Porirua -Woburn is an interesting one, The metlink fares brochure says count the number of zones you travel thru so I assume they interprete as 4 zones and 5 zones which would be 9 zones or $8.58 with a ten trip. It is the same price.

Yep, you would have to count each zone you travel through - so 4 + 5 zones. Although if Kaiwharawhara was in zone 2 (for consistency with bus zones) then it would only be 3+4 zones

Could you actually use one monthly pass for that journey or would you need one for each line? The penalties for transfer are harsher when there is a modal change between operators involved

You would need a monthly pass for each line. For example, the monthly pass I get is only valid between Wellington and Waterloo/Melling (4 zones). But I can't use that same pass between Wellington and Linden (also 4 zones). Otherwise being able to use the same pass would mean I get a free ride between Wellington and Linden

No, not corrrect- you can buy a monthly valid across two lines for travel exactly as described. It is not possible to get a similar ten trip as yet, but monthlies, yes. There are plenty of people who do already

[The King]

No, not corrrect- you can buy a monthly valid across two lines for travel exactly as described. It is not possible to get a similar ten trip as yet, but monthlies, yes. There are plenty of people who do already

Oh, are they those white coloured passes? I've seen a few people with passes I don't recognise.

How much is charged for such a pass?

[eurokiwi78]

No, not corrrect- you can buy a monthly valid across two lines for travel exactly as described. It is not possible to get a similar ten trip as yet, but monthlies, yes. There are plenty of people who do already

Oh, are they those white coloured passes? I've seen a few people with passes I don't recognise.

How much is charged for such a pass?

I cant find any reference in the metlink fares brochure. Perhaps it would be the same as a 9 zone monthly, $257.40?

[grunter]

No, not corrrect- you can buy a monthly valid across two lines for travel exactly as described. It is not possible to get a similar ten trip as yet, but monthlies, yes. There are plenty of people who do already

Oh, are they those white coloured passes? I've seen a few people with passes I don't recognise.

How much is charged for such a pass?

I cant find any reference in the metlink fares brochure. Perhaps it would be the same as a 9 zone monthly, $257.40?

When I was a Sales Clerk (more years ago now than I would care to admit) it was the sum of the two relevent fares, less 10%. I think now, with the zone based systems, its just count the zones, so in this example yes, 9 zones.
The white hand writton passes are used for these, but also for those few combinations that are so few sold that a pre-printed ticket could not be justified. And for Pro-rata part months. e.g. from today 10 April to end of May would be issued on a white "blank" version.
You can buy part months providing that the whole following month is purchased at the same time, on the same ticket.