By email
Shed 39, 2 Fryatt Quay
Pipitea, Wellington 6011
PO Box 11646
28 March 2019
Manners Street
Wellington 6142
T 04 384 5708
File Ref: OIAP-7-10243
F 04 385 6960
www.gw.govt.nz
Tony Randle
[FYI request #9727 email]
Dear Mr Randle
Request for information OIA 2019-073
I refer to your email dated 1 March 2019 which was received by Greater Wellington Regional
Council’s (GWRC) on 1 March 2019. You have requested the following information:
“I am interested in the work and supporting calculations for the planned Fare Review
to be undertaken as part of the 2019/20 Annual Plan. I understand from my previous
request that the fare review document and supporting information will be available by
the 25th of March 2019 (https://fyi.org.nz/request/9497-request-for-fare-review-
information-under-the-2019-20-annual-plan).
1) Can I please have a copy of any reports, presentations or workshop material on the
public transport fares since December 2018 ? Please include any appendices.
2) Can I please have a copy of the detailed calculations used to support the Farebox
Recovery Ratios for the 2019/20 year ?
3) Can I please have a copy of the detailed public transport costs used in the
calculation of the Farebox Recovery Ratios as outlined in 2) ?
4) Can I please have a copy of the detailed revenue estimates used in the calculation of
the Farebox Recovery Ratios as outlined in 2) ?
5) Can I please have a copy of any council workshops where the 2019/20 Farebox
Recovery Ratios were discussed including any agenda, workshop attendees, minutes
and presentation information ?
6) Can I please have a copy of any reports, presentations or workshop material on the
impact of the public transport costs on fares and/or the Farebox Recovery Ratio since
December 2018 ? Please include any appendices.
If the requested information is held in electronic form, I would prefer it was provided
in its complete and original electronic format. I would also prefer that all
correspondence be via the FYI web site.”
RESPONSE_TO_OIA_2019-073
GWRC’s response follows:
1) A copy of any reports, presentations or workshop material on the public transport fares
since December 2018, including any appendices
Attachment 1 is a copy of the workshop material on results of the 2019 fares review presented
to the Council workshop on Annual Plan on 8 March 2019.
Attachment 2 contains fares related information that was presented to the Council workshop
on 8 March 2019. The attached presentation contains relevant slides from an original
presentation.
Results of the 2019 fares review was reported to the Council meeting on 21 March 2019,
which can be accessed from the following public link: http://www.gw.govt.nz/committee-
meetings-calendar/detail/7576.
No other report, presentation or workshop material were produced on public transport fares or
fares review since December 2018.
2) A copy of the detailed calculations used to support the Farebox Recovery Ratios for the
2019/20 year
Attachments 3(a) and 3(b) are electronic copies of the calculations used for reporting on actual
Farebox Recovery ratios for the entire network and each mode under the current Farebox
Recovery Policy in the Regional Public Transport Plan (PT Plan) and projections of the User
Contribution ratios for the entire network under the current Long Term Plan (LTP 2018-28).
The calculations were undertaken as part of the 2019 fares review process. A summary of the
calculations is included in the Report 2019.93 to the Council meeting held on 21 March 2019.
Contents of the attached documents were updated with the latest forecast and budget numbers
after the Report 2019.93 was published. This has resulted in the ratios contained in the
attachments to this response being slightly different from the ratios contained in the Council
report. These differences were reported to the councillors in the meeting on 21 March.
The attachments need to be read in conjunction with the Attachment 1 to Report 19.93
(Proposed Fares Review Process and Guidelines). These documents can be accessed from the
following link: http://www.gw.govt.nz/committee-meetings-calendar/detail/7576
To reflect the effects of the changes to bus contracts and the approach to the fares share of
funding in LTP since July 2018, a revised template is used for calculations of farebox recovery
(PT Plan) and fares share of funding (LTP) in this year’s fares review.
Please note that the revised template is provisional and may change as the new approach and
formula is being incorporated into the GWRC’s accounting system for consistency.
The additional columns “D” and “E” and rows 31 to 36 in the spreadsheet “Summary Report”
are added solely for the purpose of illustrating how the change in approach and contracting
RESPONSE_TO_OIA_2019-073
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environment has changed the layout of fares revenue and costs and consequently the farebox
recovery and user contribution ratios. These columns and rows are not relevant under the
current funding approach and will be removed from the template for subsequent fare reviews.
Under the performance-based contracts, the payments to the operators are subject to an
obligation of confidence. This information has been withheld in accordance with section
7(2)(b)(ii) of the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987 (the Act)
on the ground that releasing this information would be likely to unreasonably prejudice the
commercial position of the operators or suppliers in a competitive market.
Accordingly, we have provided you with the requested information in two formats:
Attachment 3(a): is an electronic copy of the calculations (with the actual and
projected cost information relating to contracts deleted) in a format that gives the
formulae
Attachment 3(b): is an electronic copy of the calculations (with the actual and
projected cost information relating to contracts deleted) in a format that gives the
figures but does not give the formulae behind the figures
Please note that with these formats the values in the 'Summary Report' are affected in
Attachment 3(a). This has occurred because the formulas in that part of the document rely on
the redacted values in other worksheets. Where data has been deleted from a cell, the value of
the cell becomes zero; however any formula that uses the redacted cell will still be visible in
the formula bar.
The current Farebox Recovery Policy formula has been used for calculation of the actual
farebox recovery ratios in the attached spreadsheets. The actual farebox recovery ratios are
calculated for individual modes and for the entire network.
The projected user contribution ratios are provided as part of the 2019 Annual Plan process
along with the actual farebox recovery performance.
We have considered whether the public interest in the requested information outweighs
GWRC’s need to withhold certain aspects of the requested information. As a result, we do not
consider that the public interest outweighs GWRC’s reason for withholding parts of the
document under the grounds identified above.
As requested, we have provided you with the data and calculations undertaken by GWRC in
its complete and original form.
3) A copy of the detailed public transport costs used in the calculation of the Farebox
Recovery Ratios as outlined in 2)
Attachments 3(a) and 3(b) contain the actual public transport costs for 2017/18 and projections
of the costs for 2018/19 and 2019/20. Please note the explanations under the answer to
question 2).
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4) A copy of the detailed revenue estimates used in the calculation of the Farebox Recovery
Ratios as outlined in 2)
Attachments 3(a) and 3(b) contain the actual public transport fare revenue for 2017/18 and
projections of fare revenue for 2018/19 and 2019/20. Please note the explanations under the
answer to question 2).
5) A copy of any council workshops where the 2019/20 Farebox Recovery Ratios were
discussed including any agenda, workshop attendees, minutes and presentation information
Attachment 1 is a copy of the workshop material on results of the 2019 fares review presented
to the Council workshop on Annual Plan on 8 March 2019.
Council workshops do not have any formal agenda or minutes. Depending on the subject,
presentations may outline the topics for consideration by Council in the workshops. No agenda or
minutes have been recorded on the subject of fares review presented to the Council on 8 March
2019.
6) A copy of any reports, presentations or workshop material on the impact of the public
transport costs on fares and/or the Farebox Recovery Ratio since December 2018,
including any appendices
Please refer to the answers and attachments under questions 1 to 5. No other report,
presentation or workshop material was produced specifically on the impact of public transport
costs on fares since December 2018.
If you have any concerns with the decision(s) referred to in this letter, you have the right to
request an investigation and review by the Ombudsman under section 27(3) of the Act.
Yours sincerely
Greg Pollock General Manager, Public Transport
RESPONSE_TO_OIA_2019-073
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