An advertising drive behind the Government's half-price public transport policy, which was aimed at "lower-hanging fruit" commuters, has cost taxpayers more than half a million dollars.  

Despite the $638,000 spend, Newstalk ZB can reveal the campaign targeted people either already using services, or previous passengers.  

The money went towards media and production costs, with ads plastered inside buses, trains, and public transport stops across the country.  

That’s drawn the ire of the Opposition, with the Act Party questioning why "Labour's wasting taxpayers' money by preaching to the choir."  

Transport Minister Michael Wood says it made sense to focus on Kiwis who were “really open to it.”  

“We want to basically go for the lower hanging fruit, and encourage those people back onto public transport, who may have stopped using it during the Covid period”, he said.  

In July, the Government extended cuts to fuel taxes, road user charges, and half-price public transport fares until the end of January next year.

It was the second time the policy had been extended since it was announced, amid rising inflation and cost of living pressures.  

In response to written questions by the Act Party, Wood said since the launch of the half-price fares campaign on 30 March, through to June, “the total amount invoiced and paid is $638,308. “  

He said more “online and print media was placed in June, which has an estimated value of $48,000. These costs will be billed in July and August 2022.”  

Asked if there were any specific target audiences, Wood replied, "the campaign to support half-price fares on public transport was targeted at all current and previous users of public transport."  

In an interview with ZB, Wood said it was a “worthwhile investment” to promote half-price public transport.

“We knew there was a particular cohort of people who had been regular users, who had perhaps stopped using public transport for a period... and it just made a lot of sense to send those people a positive message”, he said.  

He maintained it wasn’t exclusively targeted at that group, with some ads in public spaces, like bus stops.  

“Advertising on buses and bus shelters are in pretty prominent places, and we have seen new people... but the core function was to encourage people back on.”  

Wood said exactly how Waka Kotahi continues to promote the policy is an “operational matter”, though further advertising can be expected.

Act Party Transport spokesperson Simon Court claims it’s a “classic case of untargeted spending.”  

“Any money spent advertising the policy should have been spent promoting it to people who don’t currently use public transport.”  

“Labour said it wanted more people to take public transport, why did it waste taxpayers’ money preaching to the choir?”, he questioned.  

Green Party Transport spokesperson Julie-Anne Genter said she doesn’t “necessarily” agree, and suggested more cash might be required to attract new users.  

“There is a certain logic to the idea that people who are already using public transport, or have used it in the past, are the most likely to use it more”, she said.  

“But we do want to branch out beyond that, and maybe that's going to need more than half a million to do that effectively.”