OC230718
11 September 2023
Michael Brenndorfer
[FYI request #23419 email]
Tēnā koe Michael,
I refer to your email dated 14 August 2023 that was transferred to Te Manatū Waka Ministry
of Transport, requesting the following under the Official Information Act 1982 (the Act):
“- Did Waka Kotahi undertake consultation with the disability community/disability
advocacy groups and/or with the Ministry of Disabled People while making a decision to
not include Total Mobility card holders in the extension of half price fares for public
transport?
- If so, can you please send through the responses provided which guided Waka Kotahi
to exclude Total Mobility card holders from the half price fares scheme for public transport.
- can you please send through relevant documents or information which highlights the
rationale Waka Kotahi relied upon when making the decision to exclude Total Mobility
card holders from the half price fares for public transport scheme”
No documents fall directly within scope of your request, however, I have enclosed the Budget
23 Community Connect extension initiative document. This details the scope of the budget bid
that provides half price Total Mobility services. Certain information is withheld under section
9(2)(a) of the Act which protects the privacy of natural persons. I note that where documents
refer to half price Total Mobility fares, they are referring to fares for half price Total Mobility
services.
Cabinet agreed to provide permanent half price Total Mobility fares when considering the next
steps after the provision of fuel tax reductions and universal half price fares. The Community
Connect budget initiative is the mechanism that provides funding for this decision. Due to
Budget sensitively and time constraints, consultation for the development of the Budget 23 bid
was limited.
Public transport authorities (typically regional councils) are responsible for operating their
public transport network, which includes setting fares. Some public transport authorities have
chosen to use Total Mobility eligibility as a criteria to offer their own accessible concessions.
The provision of government funding for Community Connect does not prevent public transport
authorities from implementing further concessions.
It is also worth noting that the Total Mobility scheme is currently under review and expected
to be completed in late 2024. The review will investigate how Total Mobility can be improved
to create better outcomes for disabled people which will include assessing the affordability of
the scheme for users. This review will be undertaken in parallel to monitoring of the
Community Connect scheme since it’s launch on 1 July 2023. You can find more about the
transport.govt.nz | hei-arataki.nz
HEAD OFFICE: PO Box 3175, Wellington 6140, New Zealand. PH: +64 4 439 9000
AUCKLAND OFFICE: NZ Government Auckland Policy Office, PO Box 106483, Auckland 1143, New Zealand. PH: +64 4 439 9000
Total Mobility review at:
www.transport.govt.nz/area-of-interest/strategy-and-direction/total-
mobility-scheme/
You have the right to seek an investigation and review of this response by the Ombudsman,
in accordance with section 28(3) of the Act. The relevant details can be found on the
Ombudsman’s websit
e www.ombudsman.parliament.nz
The Ministry publishes our Official Information Act responses and the information contained
in our reply to you may be published on the Ministry website. Before publishing we will
remove any personal or identifiable information.
Nāku noa, nā
Matt Skinner
Manager, Mobility and Safety
