The Minister of Transport and Minister for Disability Issues today announced changes to funding settings for the Total Mobility scheme, as well as launching public consultation seeking feedback on proposals to strengthen Total Mobility.
A summary of the changes is below, but you can read the Ministers’ press release here: https://www.beehive.govt.nz/release/changes-ensure-continued-access-transport-subsidy-disability-community. There is also a short news item on the Ministry of Transport website: link here. The news item is provided in several alternate formats for the disability community.
Changes to funding settings to stabilise Total Mobility costs
The Government is making some changes to funding settings to ensure the continued viability of a scheme. The Government has announced three elements:
- The Total Mobility fare subsidy will reduce from 75% to 65%, taking effect from 1 July 2026. This will mean Total Mobility users go from paying 25% of the fare to 35%.
- The Government will work public transport authorities to reduce regional fare caps by around 10%.
- The reduced cost to the Crown will be used to reduce public transport authorities’ funding shortfalls over the period out to 2030.
Why are changes being proposed?
The Ministry of Transport has advised that these decisions were made against the backdrop of escalating costs to Total Mobility that threatened the future viability of the scheme. In making these changes, Ministers sought to strike a balance between ensuring that the scheme is affordable and sustainable for all funders and minimising the impact on Total Mobility users.
Public consultation opened on proposals to strengthen Total Mobility
Ministers also announced public consultation on several proposals to strengthen the Total Mobility scheme. The Ministry of Transport is leading the public consultation. The proposals were developed with input from the Ministry of Disabled People – Whaikaha, Ministry of Social Development and the New Zealand Transport Authority.
You can find the Total Mobility discussion document and other materials on the Ministry of Transport website here: https://www.transport.govt.nz/consultations/proposals-to-strengthen-total-mobility.
Alternate formats of the discussion document have been commissioned, including Braille, Audio, Large Print, Easy Read, and New Zealand Sign Language. These will be published as soon as they are available.
You are welcome to share your feedback to MSNZ directly or via your Regional MS Society, to ensure we capture the needs of the MS community in our own submission.
When does consultation close?
Consultation closes on Wednesday 25th March 2026.
Read the Total Mobility Discussion Document
Large Print:
How can you have your say?
Anyone can give feedback. You can provide feedback on behalf of yourself, another individual, a group, or an organisation. There are several ways you can provide feedback:
Inform Multiple Sclerosis NZs submission:
- Join our online conversation on Wednesday 25th February 2026 at 12-1.30pm by registering here
- Send an email: info@msnz.org.nz or call 0800 67 54 63
- Speak to your MS Community Advisor who can pass on your feedback
Inform the Ministry of Transport directly:
- You can provide feedback through an online survey hosted on Accessible Surveys – this survey will allow you to provide feedback in accessible formats (please note, not all accessible formats will be available until January 2026). Take the survey here: Proposals to strengthen Total Mobility (accessiblesurveys.com)
- You can also provide written feedback to the Ministry of Transport by filling in the below feedback form, which can either be emailed to totalmobilityreview@transport.govt.nz or posted to:Total Mobility Consultation
Ministry of Transport
PO Box 3175
Wellington 6140 - Register your interest to attend an online Ministry of Transport feedback session in early 2026 here.
Last Updated December 17, 2025