Travelling around Auckland has now become simpler with AT HOP’s new fare system and an updated smartphone app, AT Metro, in place.
The system is expected to be in line with the international standards, where your fare would be calculated according to the number of zones travelled. This means that during your entire journey, you can travel by bus, train or both and can change your mode of transport up to five times with a maximum 30 minutes of transfer time between each trip.
The city has been divided into 13 fare zones as follows:
• Hibiscus Coast, Upper North Shore and Lower North Shore in North Auckland,
• Helensville, Huapai, and Waitakere in West Auckland
• City, Isthmus, and Waiheke in Central Auckland
• Beachlands in East Auckland
• Manukau North, Manukau South, and Franklin in South Auckland
Let’s take the following example to understand the new fare system.
Jack lives on K-road in Auckland CBD. He wants to go to Britomart but wishes to meet two friends on his way—one on Hobson Street and the other on Victoria Street. So he hops on a bus on K-road and gets down at Hobson Street. After 15 minutes, he takes a bus to Victoria Street, gets down for a coffee with his other friend. After 20 minutes, he finally takes a bus to Britomart. Although he tagged on and off three times, he pays only $1.80 because he travelled within one zone.
Jack will still need to tag on and off every time he boards on or off a bus. But the charge will be calculated only according to the number of zones travelled, even if he switches from one mode of transport to another during his journey.
The AT Hop fare chart explains the exact money you will be paying for your journey:
(Graphic: Auckland Transport)
Auckland Transport has colour-coded the travel zones on its website to make it easier for people to work out what their journey will cost. Travellers will need to add up the number of zones and check the fare table to calculate the fare.
AT Metro app will make the journey planning easier for smartphone users, as they will be able to track their buses/trains in real time with ‘Find My Stop’ feature. The new fare system became operational on Sunday, August 14. It does not include SkyBus services.