The Government wants to increase your public transport costs by 71%. We must tell them no.

A few months ago, I was wrong. The Government announced the ability for Regional Councils to charge for congestion. I was happy: by increasing the cost of using a car, you can raise revenues for public transport and get more people using fast, frequent bus and train services.

In isolation, congestion charging is a good idea. The problem is, this Government seems hell-bent like a Hallmark movie villain to ruin good things.

Latest in their slashing of public services: Minister of Transport Simeon Brown wants to radically raise public transport fares next year. In Wellington, it will mean a 71% increase in the cost of fares. That’s because this Government has decided to spend an ungodly amount on roads that will provide piss-poor economic benefit for their cost.

Here’s what a 71% increase will look like. I take the train to Porirua in peak times once a week: my $6 fare will rise to $10 next year.

If you take the train between Wellington and Porirua for work, like thousands of Porirua citizens, your cost of living will instantly increase by $43 a week.

That’s more than the tax cuts gave the average Porirua earner with a kid. It’s nearly three times more than the tax cuts gave the average Porirua earner without kids.

Even with those tax cuts, regular people who depend on public transport will see their cost of living skyrocket.

The decision to increase public transport costs has put the Regional Council in a bind. Either they cut countless servicesor radically increase the price. Any politician who tells you the extra costs can be raised by more advertising in stations is kidding themselves: the ad market is horrible right now if you’re not Facebook. Whether fares increase or services are cut, it will pressure more people into using their cars to commute.

For drivers out there, this is a worst-case scenario.

You think congestion is bad now? Congestion is this bad with half of Wellington commuters taking public transport. Because the Government is actively enshittifying public transport, more people will drive and congestion will get worse.

At least their new expensive roads might help congestion? Nope. This is the paradox of transport: the more lanes you add, more people drive, so the more congested things get. As highway capacity increases, the number of cars on the road increases at basically the same amount, meaning commute times get longer and the billions spent is pissed down the drain.

And that’s before you take into account that every extra car on the road is contributing to a warming Wellington where more storms, floods, droughts and heatwaves will kill more people.

I’m furious about this. Higher prices and widespread cuts to services will increase our pollution, and Petone will get ever closer to being underwater in our lifetime.

Everyone needs to tell the Minister to reverse this decision. I've written a template letter below which you should use to tell them to kill this proposal.

Copy the template and send it via email: Simeon.Brown@parliament.govt.nz

Share this with everyone you know: train nerds, bus-riders, our friends perpetually stuck in traffic. Everyone loses if our public transport is devastated like this Government is proposing. 

Send the letter! Do it now!

Make sure you spend two minutes personalising it and send it to Simeon.Brown@parliament.govt.nz

Tēnā koe Minister Brown, 

My name is [your name]. I’m a New Zealander who depends on good public transport. [Add a sentence or two about how you use public transport and why you value it.] Your Government’s decision to radically increase the cost of public transport across the country must be reversed. 

This choice, according to Wellington Regional Councillors, will increase the cost of transport for hundreds of thousands of Wellingtonians by 71% overnight. For the average person in Porirua, that’s a $43 weekly increase in cost-of-living: more than your Government provided them in tax cuts this year. 

As a Government elected on lowering the cost of living, this decision is completely counter to your promise to New Zealanders. You cannot continue with a decision that will either take nearly $100 a fortnight out of people’s back pockets or cut them off from using their preferred mode of transportation.

I know that you value easing congestion: that you see it correctly as “a tax on time and productivity.” This choice to radically increase the cost of living for public transport users will also worsen congestion. More people will drive into our already congested cities and everyone, including people who already use cars, will lose more precious time and money to extra petrol and longer commutes.

Lastly, this is a decision completely against this Government’s plan to fight climate change. Your Government’s Emissions Reduction Plan mentions improving public transport to reduce our pollution. Why would you put forward a proposal that is against your own Government’s emissions strategy? 

Better buses and trains across Aotearoa are a fantastic way to lower pollution, reduce future flood and storm risk to homeowners, and free up crucial road space for motorists. 

By forcing the hand of all councils to radically increase their fares or make widespread cuts to public transport, you put the safety of our communities and your Government’s plans to lower costs and congestion at perilous risk. 

This is a deeply unpopular choice and will lock more of your constituents into endless traffic in a warming world. Stop this proposal and let public transport keep roads free for those who need it.

[Optional! I would love to sit down and chat this through with you at your next available opportunity.] 

Ngā mihi, 

[Your name]