I know im a little behind on the 8-ball, BUT i am so annoyed! I catch public transport from zone 3 to city using a monthly gold pass because it is the easiest and cheapest option.

I would have rather paid the extra $dollars (even up to say $150 a month) and still kept the gold pass. why?

1. I pay ONCE a month on my CREDIT CARD (ie earning me some rewards with my credit card company) 2. I show the driver and don't have to hold onto my card again. (fickle I know but it makes a difference to my bussing experience) 3. It speeds things up hopping on and off the bus - especially when there are mostly gold card people. 4. You dont have to check your balance and your rides to make sure they are accurately billed. 5. I can quickly get about the city for "free" if need be. 6. I can take the airport flyer for "free" ie not pay regular or snapper rates! 7. I can bus during the weekend and not fill the city with my extra car expecially in a city with limited car parks.

I thought Wellington was about easy public transport - this just makes me wanna jump in my car and drive to work!!!!

Im not ANTI snapper by any means, im anti having choices taken away from us when it affects SOOO many people. (does anyone know how many gold passes are sold each month?)

If there is a petition - sign me up!

I arrived back in Wellington earlier this year (Feb) expecting the new Snapper card to bring local travel cards/passes into the 21st century. Somewhat like London and larger cities.

I'm a bit hot under the collar at the announcement that Gold Passes are being phased out. By my calculations discontinuing the Gold Passes will result in zone 3 commuters (me) into the Wellington CBD paying 45 plus percent more per month in travel costs. Which is a hyper inflation busting fare increase in the current recessionary environment.

I purchased my Snapper card in March and after 1 to 2 months of hassle travel using the 'new' technology (slow boarding and departures, variable pricing if I didn't tag off etc) I voted with my feet purchased a monthly Gold Pass and saved a huge amount of money. Reconciling my Snapper balance via their website was impossible, due to different amounts being charged for the same journey, Snapper customer service couldn't figure it out either and now today I also see that many temps have been hired to spread the word that in August Snapper users may have been charged incorrectly.

Lets do the Maths

Assuming that a regular commuter takes on average 22 return trips from zone 3 into zone 1 per month. Let alone any short trips within zone 1 during the month (i.e. from Willis Street to the Railway Station), or weekend travel.

Gold pass = $99 per month divide this by 22 trips = $4.50 per return trip

Come 1st of October when Gold Passes are no longer available by using the unreliable and slow Snapper card a return trip from zone 3 to zone 1 will cost $6.56 (or $144.32 per month)

A 46% increase in fares. How can this be fair Wellington City Council?

What a cheek. Taking away the Gold pass is the worst thing the bus company could have done except perhaps contracting out the building of their bus shelters. But that is another story. I have been buying the Gold Pass since its conception and find it convenient and cost effective. It is so easy to show the pass once and not have to worry about 'tagging on and off' and saves the bus heaps of time at stops. The Snapper is completely inconvenient to use especially when the readers on the buses aren't working properly and we sit at bus stops with this recorded voice saying "Please try again" half a dozen times until the passenger gets fed up and gets off the bus accepting the bus fare will cost twice-three times as much. If everyone moves to Snapper it will mean the Bus Company can do what ever they like with the fares and the passengers have no choice but to accept increases. I for one, are looking at car pooling instead of bus travel which goes against everything I believe in environmentally but what choice do we have? Bad, Bad, Bad decision Go Wellington or should we now call you Stink Wellington???!!!!

Interesting comment by Miki about there being an 85 per cent satisfaction rating from customers. Where are those figures coming from?

I travel on Go Wellington buses daily and I don't know ONE person who is happy about the Snapper... but I have seen and heard literally, from hundreds of people who are not. Even people who have Snapper cards that ACTUALLY work, cast sympathetic glances at the poor people who end up exasperated and annoyed with their unco-operative pieces of plastic.

Yes, the cards do work well in Hong Kong from my experience there, but Wellington does not seem to have bought and implemented quite the same sophisticated system as the Octopus, which can even read the cards accurately through closed wallets!

Why anyone would prefer this diabolical experiment with the Snapper card, over the perfectly fine 10 Trip ticket is a real mystery... and to think Gold Pass holders would want a bar of it, is bordering on the incredulous.

Please let us know the names of which Wellington City Council members and contenders agree to this daylight robbery initiative. I am sure it will influence the votes of many at this years local elections.

Yee cannee add Snapper: When is a month not a month (http://www.valleyflyer.co.nz/tickets-and-timetables/documents/MerchantOct09_000.pdf): "Adult Monthly passes are valid for 30 days from the day of first use." Will the same apply when Gold Pass becomes a Snapper? Where's the rest of my year gone? 5 days stolen!

As I'm destined to be forced fulltime onto Snapper as a result of killing of Gold Pass, do I get a discount because I've already got a Snapper card? Can one Snapper do two tricks? Work as a replacement Gold Pass within the Go Wellington network, and then work as Snapper for travel outside those services? Or will I need two Snappers - 1 for my 30 day'Gold Pass' Go Wellington travel and another for my intermittent trips to The Hutt?

Taking away the monthly bus pass would be crap. Our current public transportation system is not that great - why should we have to pay more for something that doesn't isn't being improved.

Thank you for your response, Miki. The three reasons you have provided for replacing the monthly Gold Passes with period passes make sense. It seems to work like the Compass Card used in the USA. I wonder why the Snapper costs $10 for a basic Snapper card, when the Compass Card is being provided for free (see http://compass.511sd.com/GettingStarted.aspx). Could you please explain?

Another point: while I do realise that software glitches may occur (such as the one that resulted in a passenger reportedly being charged $97 for a $2.25 ride in April this year), I think Snapper might be able to reassure customers by providing - through its website - a periodic statement of charges debited from a customer's Snapper card (similar to statements we receive from other utility providers such as electricity or telephone).

In this way, every transaction would be transparent and would bring to the customer's attention any unwarranted debit (as in the case referred to above).

I look forward to your response, Miki.

@Disgruntled

Good point - we are undertaking a spring clean of our site right now. We'd put it off as we expected to have a new site up and running by now. The new site isn't up so content spring clean is underway

The requirement to tag off is clearly stated on the buses, on the website and on all the publicity material I've seen. I've been using a card for months and have never had any problems with it.

Thank you for your response Miki. If only Go Wellington were as willing to respond to enquiries.

I suggest you put some of your responses up on the faq section of the Snapper website so people don't have to go trawling through various blogs and news stories.