The council issued a statement yesterday saying that when the change occurred to a new national ticketing system, called "Motu Move", the council would be asking public transport users to use up their Bee Cards’ remaining balances.
Planning and transport general manager Anita Dawe said Motu Move was a partnership between the NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi and 13 public transport authorities and was being rolled out across New Zealand.
Bee Card terms and conditions were being updated because Motu Move would be introduced region-by-region over the next two years, which meant Bee Cards would expire at different times, depending on where they were issued.
"Motu Move customers will be able to pay for public transport using contactless credit or debit cards, and digital payment methods such as Apple Pay or Google Pay on their phone or smart watch.
"Prepaid Motu Move cards will also be available for people who can’t or don’t want to use contactless payment options," she says.
Pilot programmes had begun in Christchurch and Auckland.
A detailed rollout schedule would be confirmed shortly, but at present Otago was scheduled to change early next year, she said.
"We will make sure we give all our public transport users plenty of notice about when we are moving across, and what happens with their Bee Cards once the new system is in place," she said. — APL
