Levin to Marton bus fares to rise despite council delays

"If this fare increase was relevant in 2013, it must be well behind time now." Paul Rieger, Horizons regional councillor

Fares on buses from Levin and Marton to Palmerston North are going up, despite attempts from Horizons passenger transport committee to hold them down.

The regional council had earlier decided on a two-step increase for the two services, but the second, due to come into effect in November 2013, was never imposed.

Senior transport planner Kelly Curry told the committee on Tuesday, August 16, that had been an oversight.

After looking a passenger numbers, committee chairwoman Rachel Keedwell and member Chris Teo-sherrell argued the fares should stay down.

Numbers on the Levin service fell from 11,148 to 8988 in the year to June.

Marton bucked the trend across the region with an increase, which transport services manager Phil Hindrup attributed to active marketing.

Teo-sherrell said the ‘‘whopping’’ decline in the Levin numbers suggested it was the wrong time to put up fares and discourage people further.

The full council on Tuesday rejected the committee’s advice, that would have cost $2800 at most over a year.

Councillor Paul Rieger said the committee did not have power to make a decision that contradicted a full council resolution.

‘‘If this fare increase was relevant in 2013, it must be well behind time now.’’

The fares go up as soon as practicable from $8 to $9 one way on the full Levin commute, and from $7 to $8 for Marton.