Thanks A Million! Auckland Taps Milestone With New Ways To Pay

Yesterday at precisely 3.56pm, an unsuspecting passenger made history when they hopped off a route 27H bus by the Grafton Bridge after a short trip up Symonds Street.

As the passenger tagged off the bus, that one small tap of a phone, smart watch, 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 last year.

We will never know who that passenger was, but what we do know is that passenger made history in their own little way yesterday – so thanks a million!

Auckland Transport (AT) Chief Executive Dean Kimpton says reaching one million trips is a tremendous milestone for Auckland’s public transport and one that was reached weeks earlier than originally expected.

“Aucklanders have long asked for easy and alternative ways to pay on public transport.” Mr Kimpton says.

“We have 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.

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“When we introduced new ways to pay for public transport last November we received overwhelmingly positive feedback from Aucklanders and visitors alike.

“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 helped to push up the number of customers using contactless payments further, Mr Kimpton says.

“With visitors in the city for Luke Combs, 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."

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