Auckland student offered free bus ride after payment fails, then fined $150

An Auckland mother says her teenage daughter was slapped with a $150 infringement fee despite a bus driver telling her to travel for free when both her payment options failed. 

The mother, who wished to remain anonymous, said the “free ride” ended up becoming a “ridiculously expensive” and stressful ordeal. 

Auckland Transport (AT) has since apologised and refunded her, saying the decision to issue an infringement was based on “incorrect information”. 

“This was not a fair result for the woman impacted ... We should not have issued this infringement, because she ultimately had made a fair attempt to pay her fare,” the spokesperson said. 

What happened? 

The mother said her 18-year-old daughter was on the NX2 bus route from the CBD to Albany on May 27. 

The university student had been en route to meet her mother before heading to an orthodontist appointment. 

“Her AT Hop card couldn’t tag on as she just topped up on the same day, and she tried her PayWave too,” the mother claimed. 

After neither card worked, she was about to exit the bus to call her mother when the driver told her she could ride for free. 

A few minutes later, an Auckland Transport officer descended from the upper level to scan her AT Hop card during a routine check. 

The mother claimed her daughter’s student ID was visible during the interaction. 

“She tried to explain that her cards did not work, and the bus driver had asked her to stay. 

“The transport officer said to my daughter that she was doing illegal action and she would receive an infringement notice,” the mother said. 

When her daughter arrived at Albany station, she told her mother she was “worried” she would have a criminal record. 

“She was so scared.” 

Her mother claims she was about to hop off the bus when the driver said she could stay on. Photo / Michael Craig 

Her daughter made a complaint but later received the $150 infringement notice, which they paid at the time. 

Responding to the complaint by letter, AT said it understood the driver advised her daughter to remain on the service; however, “drivers are not able to waive fare requirements”. 

The mother took to Facebook to warn other young people not to accept a free ride if their cards did not work. 

“Just hop off the bus,” she said. 

AT responds 

AT group manager for public transport operations, Rachel Cara, told the Herald, in this case, the bus driver and transport officer were trying to do the right thing. 

When the transport officer carried out the routine check, they discovered the student had not paid. 

The officer tried to tag on for her while travelling, but this was unsuccessful because she had a negative balance. 

“Based on the information the officer could see on the woman’s HOP card, they issued an infringement for her not having a valid fare,” Cara said. 

The student had made a top-up about 30 minutes earlier, but it had not yet loaded on her card because online HOP top-ups take one hour to process. 

Cara said the decision to issue an infringement was based on incorrect information, so she was given a full refund after the Herald contacted AT. 

AT said transport officers would be alerted about “rare cases” like this, where there is a known lag in the HOP system. 

They will be encouraged to use their discretion when issuing a warning or an infringement. 

“Unfortunately, our transport officers hear every excuse under the sun when they find people have not paid their fares, including people saying the driver let them on, or that they had just topped up. 

“It’s tricky to strike the right balance between trying to take people at their word and needing to be vigilant against the tiny number of Aucklanders who try to game the system,” Cara said. 

Auckland Transport (AT) has since apologised and refunded her, saying the decision to issue an infringement was based on “incorrect information”. Photo / Michael Craig 

Cara said that although it was not AT policy, bus drivers used their discretion to allow passengers to board if they were unable to pay. 

“This is sometimes out of compassion, and sometimes out of convenience, to not hold up other passengers wanting to board.” 

For transport officers, their role in monitoring fare compliance was set out in the Land Transport Act, which gave them the authority to check whether passengers had paid and ask passengers to pay the required fare. 

In the past year, transport officers detected 55,399 instances of fare evasion, with 5691 infringements issued. 

Cara said fare evasion was estimated at 3% of all public transport trips in Auckland, well below the levels seen internationally. 

AT tells operators not to abandon children 

The Albany case comes after a woman said her young grandchild was left stranded and in tears after the child forgot her wallet on the way to school. 

Monica Genet told RNZ no buses would take her granddaughter, who was trying to get from Auckland’s Pt Chevalier to school in Ponsonby last month. 

“She very politely approached the bus driver and explained her situation, I might add that she was in full school uniform,” she said. 

“The driver just would not give her any assistance or consider anything else but put her off the bus, so she’s stranded there on the footpath.” 

In a statement, AT said it recognised how important it was for students to be able to use public transport safely. 

“Although we expect school students to pay the relevant child or student fare when they use public transport, our clear expectation is that our public transport operators should not be leaving children behind, regardless of whether they are wearing a school uniform or not.”