Snapper card on track for launch on trains
Wellington’s paper train tickets will soon be a thing of the past.
At ameeting yesterday, Greater Wellington Regional councillors approved a plan to roll out Snapper cards to rail within the next six months.
Metlink general manager Scott Gallacher said his team was aiming to start testing the Snapper card on rail services within the first quarter of 2021.
Since its launch in 2008, Snapper cards have been used for the overwhelming majority of bus trips in the capital.
A nationwide ticketing system is set to be rolled out in 2022, across all buses and trains in New Zealand.
The new national card was planned to launch first on Wellington’s trains, and eventually introduced across the entire country by 2026.
Gallacher said adding Snapper capabilities would allow Metlink to test systems ahead of the national ticketing launch, though most technology would need to be replaced.
Councillor Rosamond Connelly urged Metlink to move quickly, and ‘‘not let perfect be the enemy of good’’.
‘‘We’ve been waiting a really long time, and what we have is still crap,’’ she said.
Roger Blakeley, who holds the council’s transport portfolio, said it was a long-awaited change.
‘‘It’s been a source of frustration that we are still using a 100-year-old ticketing system. This will finally bring us into the 21st century,’’ he said.
In July, 83 per cent of all public transport boardings in the region used Snapper, with just 5 per cent paying cash. The remainder were mostly free fares for SuperGold card holders and children under 5.
Councillor David Lee said those figures showed cash was no longer necessary.
‘‘Cash is a redundant form of payment . . . Covid-19 has nudged us even further on that,’’ he said.
In a report presented to councillors yesterday, officers suggest ‘‘it is worthwhile to explore the extension of Snapper to the Metlink rail network’’.
‘‘We would be able to utilise aspects of the current Snapper service already provided to Metlink such as technology, fare structure and data management,’’ the report reads.
The convenience of paying consistently ranks as one of the poorer performing survey sections among Metlink rail customers, with 68 per cent satisfaction with rail customers, compared to 78 per cent satisfaction with bus customers.