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As part of its contracting processes, the Auckland Regional Council specifies the maximum fares that operators can charge for any journey made on a contracted service. Operators may charge any fare, provided the fare does not exceed that specified in the schedule. The schedule applies only to the services contracted by the Council and not to any that are commercially operated, however in practice the fares charged on commercial services are usually the same as those charged on contracted services. Individual transport companies may offer their own range of discounts. The schedule applies to all contracted land based transport services (bus and train).
The Auckland Regional Council specifies fare stage boundaries at approximately five kilometre intervals on each route. The schedule sets the maximum single adult fare for the number of stages travelled. It also specifies the minimum discount to be offered for pre-purchased multi-journey cards (10% discount for a ten-ride card) and a range of discounts to be provided to children, senior citizens, tertiary students and people with physical or mental disabilities.
Through the specification of maximum fares and maintenance of fare stage boundaries, the Council provides a degree of consistency across the region regardless of route or operator as well as providing a degree of user protection against profiteering where a contract has been awarded on a fixed cost basis.
The maximum fare schedule is reviewed on an annual basis following an independent review of cost movements in the service supply. The Council's Transport Committee may adjust the schedule up or down as a result of this review to maintain a balance between the fare competitiveness and the cost of providing the service.
Effective from 1 August 2004
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