‘Unfair’ cost of free transport for seniors

Senior citizen advocacy organisation says recent changes to the way the elderly access public transport is “unreasonable”.

Auckland Transport announced that from July 1, SuperGold Card holders need to purchase an AT HOP card and register for a senior concession to continue receiving free transport in off-peak hours.

The cards incur a $10 purchase fee and must have a minimum of $5 credit loaded on them to be activated.

Tom O’Connor, national president for 50-plus advocacy organisation Grey Power, said the new $15 cost is neither fair nor reasonable.

“They [the Government] added free off-peak travel to the SuperGold Card and now they are backing out of that by capping it for the next five years.

“Now public transport companies have decided to put free transport onto a separate card and take it away from the SuperGold Card,” said Mr O’Connor.

The initiative behind free off-peak travel on public transport, he said, was to prevent the elderly from getting stuck at home and becoming socially isolated.

“What Auckland Transport are doing is not warranted and not necessary.”

Rebecca Slight took her elderly mother, who is also in the early stages of dementia, to the New Lynn AT helpdesk to register a HOP card this week.

“We waited around 20 minutes, and when it was completed the staff member told us that the concession expired three years from today,” she told Te Waha Nui.

“He seemed a bit confused when I asked why it had an expiry date and didn't have an answer for that at all,” said Mrs Slight.

The information desks were also not accepting cash on that particular day, she said, which made it more difficult, and she believed elderly people could be easily confused by the process.

“Fifteen dollars is a lot of money for someone who relies solely on the pension . . . the cost could keep them at home and isolated,” she said.

One person commenting on Mrs Slight’s original Facebook post about the situation said “They have made something that was simple, complicated and costing AT more,” while another said “[It’s] bureaucracy gone mad . . . grrr.”

Te Waha Nui spoke with three senior citizens at Britomart Transport Centre in Auckland yesterday and they all reported an easy change over to the new system.

Britomart Transport Centre requires all passengers to carry an AT HOP card or paper ticket to access the platforms. Photo: Jaden Martin

Auckland Transport spokesperson Mark Hannan sent a prepared statement via email on the changes, which stated that the new system will help with future transport planning and provide a better understanding of the costs of the SuperGold Card scheme.

“The Government considered whether smartcards could be issued to each SuperGold cardholder free of charge.

“The cost was found to be prohibitive as funding cards through the scheme would divert a substantial amount of funding from providing travel.”

The email also stated that the SuperGold concession for the rest of New Zealand remains the same, however the AT HOP card cannot be used outside of Auckland.

“You will need to retain your existing SuperGold card to ensure you can access all other SuperGold benefits, including free off-peak public transport travel in other regions,” said Mr Hannan in the email.