Further delay to national public transport card roll-out

The roll-out of a single payment card to use on all public transport services across New Zealand has been delayed again due to the testing required for "complex components" of the system, transport officials say.

NZTA said that the rollout of the Motu Move system has been delayed until "mid 2025".

It follows a tortured multi-year process to develop the "national ticketing solution", which includes the ability to pay with contactless debit cards.

Transport agency spokesperson Andy Knackstedt said further testing was required on the system before it could begin introducing Motu Move in Timaru and Temuka.

"We’re continuing to test some of the other more complex components of the solution to ensure we can provide a smooth customer transition when we start the rollout," he said in a statement to 1News.

"The additional time needed for this testing means the first implementation in Timaru and Temuka is now expected around the middle of this year.

"This will be followed by Greater Christchurch, with all remaining regions scheduled to transition to Motu Move by the end of 2026."

In Timaru, the system will be used on the district's on-demand minivan service, known as MyWay, alongside school buses and other local buses.

The initial rollout date for the Motu Move was to be last December, according to a timeline supplied by the then-transport minister's office last June. The table showed Greater Christchurch was previously expected to see its roll-out in January 2025.

Later last year, the Timaru date was pushed to early 2025.

The most recent delay follows a long development process for the smartcard, which has been developed by NZTA in various forms since 2009. Subsequent developments have seen a litany of delays and posited launch dates scrapped.

The Motu Move project is budgeted to cost $1.3 billion over 15 years and will include the phasing out of several existing payment methods, including Snapper and Bee cards.

In December, a "pilot" of the system was deployed on one bus line in Christchurch, which allowed people to use contactless cards to tap on, if they were paying adult fares.

The pilot hasn't included a wider distribution of Motu Move cards.

"The Motu Move pilot on Route 29 in Christchurch has been successful, so far seeing over 10,000 debit or credit card payments. This volume is well above expected levels, and there have been no issues with the contactless payment technology," according to NZTA.

Meanwhile, in Auckland, the city's transport agency has said its self-initiated roll-out of contactless cards through its existing HOP system has been a success.

The upgrade, which faced a five-month delay in its delivery, went live in November.

Around 4000 payment readers were replaced during the project, which Auckland Transport expects to be compatible with the new national system.