Regional public transport rating

From 1 July 2025, we’re changing the way bus, community transport and Total Mobility services are rated for in the Waikato region.

These services provide access to education, employment, recreation, healthcare and more, while also helping to cut congestion, improve road safety and reduce carbon emissions.

The cost of providing public transport is covered through a mix of fares, central government funding and rates. Our staff have been developing three regional rating models in partnership with local councils, and we now want to test them with our communities to see if we’re on the right track.

When developing these three options, we’ve kept six principles in mind.

• Public transport is a public good: Good public transport benefits everyone, so we all pay something, even if we don’t use it.
• Fairness: What people pay reflects the benefits, costs and affordability of rates.
• Efficiency: The rating model should be simple to administer.
• Transparency: People should be able to understand how their rates are calculated.
• Future-fit: The rating model should be able to adapt to future changes in the transport network.
• Boundary-less: Services should meet community needs, regardless of city and district boundaries.
  
  

The feedback we receive here will be collated and shared with regional councillors during a workshop in December. We’ll then refine the rating model options ahead of formal consultation with our communities in April 2025, before moving to regional rating from 1 July 2025.