Fares are due to go up by 50c in Dunedin and Queenstown next week after a decision was made earlier this year to raise prices.
The government wanted the private share — bus fares — to increase to lower the contribution from the public purse.
In July, the Otago Regional Council wrote to Transport Minister Chris Bishop, Education Minister Erica Stanford, Associate Education Minister David Seymour and Associate Transport Minister James Meager to express concern about the unintended consequences of raising child fares to meet the government’s goals for a private revenue share.
Last month, council chairwoman Gretchen Robertson wrote to the ministers again saying the council continued to have significant concerns that increasing fares for public transport would have a detrimental impact on the community.
The letter is included in a council agenda for a meeting tomorrow.
"The 2023-24 year had record growth in Dunedin with patronage exceeding all previous years. Last year, 3.492million trips were taken on our Dunedin network.’’
The story was the same in Queenstown. The 2024-25 year had 1.966million trips, which was a 57% increase since 2019-20.
Child fares from those aged 5-18 made up 15% of all patrons in Queenstown, and 27% in Dunedin.
Children aged 5-12 ride for free. This is set to change next week.
Ms Robertson asked the government to urgently reconsider its position on private share.
The council would be happy to attend a meeting in Wellington to discuss it further, or host ministers, she said.
She was worried higher fares would create barriers to accessing education, health and social services.
