Contactless payments on Auckland's public transport are experiencing a delay.

This delay stems from challenges in acquiring and installing equipment due to supply chain issues and data centre establishment.

New readers currently only accept AT HOP cards.

However, by late 2024, these readers are set to expand their acceptance to include Apple and Google Pay, debit cards, and most credit cards, alongside AT HOP cards.

Stacey van der Putten, AT’s Director of Public Transport, highlights the convenience of contactless payments.

She emphasises that once implemented, this system will simplify public transport use, crucial for encouraging more people to utilise it. 

"It’s about being able to turn up, pay and use public transport that gets people to more places without too much thinking ahead," says van der Putten.

Efforts are underway to ensure passenger card data security and regulatory compliance as these changes are finalised.

Van der Putten notes that the expansion of payment options will make public transport more attractive to various groups, including tourists, casual users, and first-time riders.

In addition to these payment upgrades, Auckland is witnessing significant public transport improvements, including the City Rail Link, Eastern Busway, new train stations, electric ferries, and enhanced road space utilisation.

"We will continue to invest in ways to make it easy, safe, and reliable to get around using public transport," adds Ms van der Putten. "This will reduce road congestion and our environmental impact."

The installation of bus and pedestal card readers is expected to be completed within the next three months, followed by station gates.

Approximately 3,600 card readers across 1,450 buses, 180 pedestal readers across 32 train stations and 16 ferry terminals, and 110 gates at 17 stations are part of this upgrade.

Some noteworthy statistics about AT HOP cards include:

• 2.45 million AT HOP cards are enabled.
• 97% of trips are currently paid by AT HOP card.
• Last month witnessed 8.3 million trips on AT HOP cards.

With the upgrade of 3,600 on-board card readers and 180 station pedestals, AT says they're on track to extend the system's capability to accept other forms of contactless payment by the end of the year.