Comments on: Super Gold card being “reviewed”

By: Matt L

Matt L — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 21:35:20 +0000

I think there are definitely some operators that are taking a few extra helpings from the government trough. I notice on the trains that when someone uses a Super gold card they get a special ticket regardless of how far they are traveling. The could go one stage or five but how much are Veolia charging the government for?

By: Uroskin

Uroskin — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 20:53:09 +0000

The economic benefits to Waiheke are a little overstated, talking to business owners on the island. Most pensioners using the off peak ferry only take the bus to Onetangi where they have their homemade sandwiches on the beach and then return home. They don’t really “do vineyards” or stay over for a weekend. The only winner is Fullers which runs all ferries and buses. Island and vineyard tours by bus cost extra.
Some oldies stay on the boat all day, the cheapest cruise in the South Pacific!

Fullers got $756,000 in the first three months of the gold car scheme. i.e. during the 2008-2009 Summer (we asked them: http://fullerswatch.blogspot.com/2009/04/from-c4fff-press-release-campaign-4.html) and since they have had the highest passenger patronage ever this Summer, the $2m figure I suspect is not far off the mark.

The gold car scheme also had extra money benefits for Fullers on top of the Government paying the full fare for all card holders: it abolished the pensioner discounts that were in place before the gold card scheme. Pensioners now pay full fares for morning peak travel, like the rest of us.

The big scandal of course is that Fullers is refusing to share any of the loot with all passengers by reducing fares for all.

By: admin

admin — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 05:55:13 +0000

Nick, I think that’s fairly likely to be the best way for ARTA to increase their farebox recovery.

By: Nick R

Nick R — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 05:54:16 +0000

Hmm, I wonder if the only way ARTA could actually achieve it’s farbox recovery ratio would be by gross contracting all services in order to keep all farebox revenue. Wouldn’t that be ironic!

By: admin

admin — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 05:14:15 +0000

I thought they did Cam…. or is it via ARTA?

Seems like sanity has prevailed anyway and the only thing Joyce is reviewing is pretty much exactly what I have suggested above – to find out where operators are ‘double-dipping’ and to stop that from happening.

http://scoop.co.nz/stories/PA1003/S00174.htm

By: Cameron Pitches

Cameron Pitches — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 05:03:32 +0000

Where did you get that operators claim from nzta direct? Not what I understand. Anyhow I love the idea of free off peak travel for seniors. Bet those waiheke vinyards do too.

By: Jeremy Harris

Jeremy Harris — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 23:45:56 +0000

It is hilarious that Joyce uses the example of Waiheke, as it is the very type of route Joyce’s planned changes to the PTMA will increase, commercially operated monopolies gouging the public in the pocket, through taxes and rates…

The guy is either dim or just trying to give away public money to private business…

By: John Dalley

John Dalley — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 23:22:10 +0000

I note on the late news (TV3?) that Winston Peters said Joyce was lying about the cost to Waiheke. He said the 2 million figure was incorrect and that he had proof.
Another section of the voting public that Joyce and National are trying to upset.

By: Ross Clark

Ross Clark — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 20:26:50 +0000

Another advantage of a concessions-card scheme like this one, can be seen in Scotland. There, the scheme equivalent to Super Gold, which includes disabled people as well, is responsible for supporting about a third of the bus market, and a quarter of the bus companies’ revenues (they get reimbursed about 75 percent of the full fare, not all of it, and the same is true for SuperGold:

http://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/news/3438172/Govt-reviews-travel-subsidy )

The side-effect of this sort of regime (which costs the Scottish Government close to £190m per year), is that the bus companies have responded by commercially registering a horde of services which otherwise would have to be tendered out. As a result: In the main centres here, only a few services need to be tendered out because of the concessions card money. Also, the bus companies don’t get to collect unless they are providing services that people actually want to use.