The subsidy will be reduced from 75 percent to 65 percent. Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone
The government is cutting transport subsidies for elderly and disabled people from 75 percent to 65 percent.
The Total Mobility scheme provides discounted taxis and public transport fares for those with long-term impairments.
Transport Minister Chris Bishop and Disability Minister Louise Upston said when the previous Labour government boosted the scheme from a 50 percent subsidy in 2022, it did not account for increased demand.
The number of registered users had increased from 108,000 to 120,000 between 2022 and 2024/25, and the number of trips increased from 1.8 million in 2018 to 3 million in 2024/25.
Bishop said the increased demand now meant the scheme was close to exceeding the funding provided by $236m sometime over the five years to 2030.
"The subsidy is split between the government and public transport authorities - local councils and the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) - and provides an important service for the people who use the scheme," he said.
"This is yet another fiscal cliff left to us that we are having to correct and fix. Today, the government is announcing decisions to stabilise the Total Mobility scheme so that the disability community is supported in a financially sustainable way, by all funding partners."
This would be done by reducing the subsidy from 75 percent to 65 percent, something the Transport Agency would work towards.
The reduced costs to the Crown would be recycled back to public transport authorities to reduce the 2025 to 2030 shortfall, with the government also providing $10m.
Upston said they wanted to "stabilise" the scheme's funding pressures "in a way that ensures financial sustainability, consistency in how the service is delivered, and fairness across New Zealand".
She said the government would release a discussion document to consult on further changes to the scheme "to ensure fairer, consistent and more sustainable access to services for people with the greatest need".
Labour's Priyanca Radhakrishnan says today's changes mean disabled New Zealanders paying more to get to work, attend appointments or see loved ones.
She said the government was making life harder and more expensive for disabled New Zealanders by making the cuts in a cost-of-living crisis.
"Slashing subsidised transport at a time when people are already struggling is out of touch especially from a government that promised to ease the cost-of-living and has instead made it worse.
"Disability communities feel betrayed. First came the overnight cut to flexible funding. Then restrictions on residential care with no warning. Then Whaikaha was gutted and disability support shifted to the Ministry of Social Development. Now, the transport subsidy many rely on to live independently has been cut."
She said affordable transport was not a nice-to-have for many disabled New Zealanders, but a lifeline that meant independence, dignity, and the ability to participate in everyday life - which was why Labour had increased the subsidy in 2022.
