Hon MICHAEL WOOD (Minister of Transport): In March, the Government moved swiftly to announce a reduction in fuel excise duty and road-user charges in response to rapidly escalating fuel prices brought about as a result of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. As a part of that package, we also funded half-price public transport fares across New Zealand to provide more options for commuters to get around. The response from Kiwis has been extremely positive. Auckland public transport use last week was 29 percent higher than the day before the fare reduction came into effect, reaching its highest levels since before the August lockdown last year. Wellington bus use is up 24 percent over the same period, and Christchurch is up by 21 percent. While there are likely to be a number of factors driving this recovery in public transport patronage, the early evidence is that half-price fares are supporting more people to give public transport a go, helping to reduce congestion and emissions.