20 Jan 2015

Bus rides could save big money

1:23 pm on 20 January 2015

A new study has found commuters could save thousands of dollars a year if they travel to work by bus or train instead of using their own cars.

A bus on Auckland's Queen Street

A bus on Auckland's Queen Street Photo: RNZ / Diego Opatowski

The report, by the Australasian Railway Association, found people could save between $1,000 and $3,000 depending on the size of their car.

And if people decided to ditch their cars entirely, the savings could climb to over $13,000 a year.

The association's chief executive, Bryan Nye, said the message that public transport saves people money is still not getting through.

"What happens in New Zealand very much happens in Australia, we tend to be focussed very much on using our car to get to and from work and people don't consider the use of public transport. And I think we're trying to highlight to people 'if you think about it and you're trying to save money then use public transport'."

The study looked at the costs for commuters in Wellington and Auckland.

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