Travelling with children and concession fares in New Zealand

In most New Zealand networks children under five travel free with a paying adult and do not need a card of their own. Older children pay a reduced child fare; the age limits and discounts are set by each region. To get the child fare on a smart card, the card usually has to be registered with the child's date of birth. Contactless bank cards are always charged the adult fare.

In Auckland, children aged 5 to 15 travel free at weekends and on public holidays with a registered AT HOP card, except on the Waiheke and Rakino ferries, and pay a discounted fare on weekdays. In Christchurch, child and youth concessions are linked to a Motu Move account.

From 2023 the government funded free fares for children aged 5 to 12 and half-price fares for people aged 13 to 24 across the country. That funding ended on 30 April 2024, and since then the regions have set their own child and youth fares again. Some regional councils kept part of the discount with their own money, while others returned to standard child fares.

As a result, child and youth fares now differ noticeably between regions. Check the fares page of the network you are travelling on, and register children's cards before the trip so that the right fare is charged.

Holders of a Community Services Card, issued by the Ministry of Social Development, get half-price fares through the Community Connect scheme, as do Total Mobility users. The concession has to be linked to a registered smart card or account, so it is available only to people living in New Zealand.

Some regions also offer a tertiary concession for students at New Zealand universities and polytechnics; in the Wellington region, for example, it is applied to a Snapper card through the education provider. A card can usually hold only one concession at a time. Visitors with a foreign student or senior card pay the standard fare.

New Zealand residents aged 65 and over who receive NZ Super or the Veteran's Pension can travel free on most public transport with the SuperGold card during off-peak periods: on weekdays outside the morning and afternoon peaks, and all day at weekends and on public holidays. In some regions you also need the regional smart card to use it, and Auckland allows free SuperGold travel during the afternoon peak as well.

The off-peak rules are set by each region and are being reviewed in several of them; Environment Canterbury, for example, plans to end free travel in the weekday afternoon peak when Motu Move is fully in place. Outside the free periods, cardholders pay the normal fare.

Most city buses in New Zealand are low-floor, with a ramp and space near the front door for a wheelchair or pram, and wheelchair users have priority. Suburban trains in Auckland and Wellington have level boarding at most stations. Priority seats near the doors are for older passengers, pregnant passengers and people with disabilities.

On most buses you board through the front door and tag on next to the driver. At quieter stops, raise your hand to signal the bus to stop, and press the bell in good time before your stop. Many passengers thank the driver when they get off.