An unsuspecting public transport passenger made history when hopping off a route 27H bus by Grafton Bridge after a short trip up Symonds Street.
Auckland Transport says as the passenger tagged off the bus, at 3.56pm on Monday, that one small tap of a phone, smartwatch, credit or debit card marked the end of the millionth journey made using contactless payments in Auckland since new ways to pay were introduced in November.
“We will never know who that passenger was, but what we do know is that passenger made history in their own little way – thanks a million!” says AT.
Dean Kimpton, the AT chief executive, says reaching one million trips is “a tremendous milestone” for Auckland’s public transport, reached weeks earlier than originally expected.
“Aucklanders have long asked for easy and alternative ways to pay on public transport.
“We’ve responded with the upgrade to our ticketing systems that means you can use a contactless payment option, alongside our AT HOP card, giving immediate benefits for customers with reliable and cost-effective technology.
“When we introduced new ways to pay for public transport, we received overwhelmingly positive feedback from Aucklanders and visitors alike,” says Kimpton.
“Since then, we’ve seen a really strong uptake of contactless payments across the network, with the highest use over weekends and on routes like the AirportLink and our Waiheke Island bus services.”
Auckland’s big weekend of events on January 17-19 helped to push up the number of customers using contactless payments further, Kimpton says.
“With visitors in the city for Luke Combs [concerts], SailGP and the Auckland FC match on Saturday, we experienced the biggest day so far for contactless payments, with 13 per cent of customers making the most of AT’s new ways to pay.
“AT’s roll-out of contactless payments was a real highlight of 2024, but we’ve got even more to look forward to with public transport this year.
“With trains returning to Pukekohe next month following the electrification of the line from Papakura, a fleet of brand-new double-decker electric buses taking over the WX1 route from April, and our first electric ferries hitting the water this year, there’s a lot to look forward to,” Kimpton says.
