The Dunedin bus hub. PHOTO: ODT FILES
In November, NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi sent letters to local councils and transport authorities asking them to increase their private share, a proportion of the total cost to provide public transport, excluding rates and government funding.
The Otago Regional Council contributes a private share of 18%, it has been asked to increase this to 42% in the next three years.
Public and active transport committee co-chairwoman Alexa Forbes said she was concerned the increase would lead to higher fares.
"There's a direct relationship between fares going up and patronage going down. And I don't want to see patronage go down."
Cr Forbes said the council would work through the request in the coming months as it deliberated the Regional Public Transport Plan.
Otago's targets for fare box recovery or private share were 24% for the current year, 30% from 2025-26 and 42% in 2026-27.
"We need to get more money through that fare box," Cr Forbes said.
"But there is probably a number of ways of doing that which we need to work through.
"Our contractors own their buses, so we don't own the advertising on top of the buses.
We don't own our bus stops ... so we can't sell advertising on those either."
The council had to "roll with the punches" and find a solution which benefited residents, she said.
"I am sort of a bit upset that public transport isn't really highly valued by this government.
"We just have to go back to those fundamentals that every bum on a seat is saving congestion, saving carbon, all sorts of positives for society in general."
Committee co-chairman Andrew Noone said the government appeared to be reintroducing a policy with a broader definition of private revenue.
"It seems that NZTA are revisiting a policy approach that existed prior to 2018-19 when the [government] of the day rescinded the requirement to meet a target in relation to fare revenue from [public transport] services," he said.
"It's important to remember fares in Dunedin and Queenstown are very cheap ... [and] there's been quite a few years of inflationary pressure via operational costs, including higher driver wages and fuel price increases."
To ease the impact on the public, fares could be adjusted up via several steps over several years, he said.
In November, Transport Minister Simeon Brown said public transport costs were rising, shifting more of the burden to ratepayers and taxpayers who subsidised public transport services.
In 2017, public transport users contributed 40% of the operating costs, but by 2023 this had dropped to 10%.
"Our government expects that councils keep public transport costs under control and ensure that those who use public transport are contributing fairly towards operating the network," he said. - Additional reporting RNZ
