Level 4- August 2021

Kia ora Wellington,

Kei te pēhea koutou? Since we’re back at Level Four, we wanted to check in with a reminder of how the Snapper team is doing our best to keep you moving safely along with our friends at Metlink and the Ministry of Health.

As always, our main priority is the health and safety of our people, cardholders, customers and the wider community, and we are following all guidelines recommended by the Ministry of Health.

Catching the bus

Metlink has moved bus and train services to a Saturday timetable. Keep an eye out on the Metlink website for future updates, but for now: If you’re unwell please avoid public transport and stay home. Two metre physical distancing on board will return, and fares will remain in place across the region but cash handling will be removed. On bus Snapper (purse and pass), will be the only form of valid fares.

You’ll also notice that we’re back to rear door boarding. This means you won’t be able to hop on at the front of the bus, so please head toward the rear door and tag on and off from there. Normal fares will apply. We’re still working our way through updating the whole fleet so if you hear the message “please tag on at the front” this means the bus has yet to update to the rear door system. Don’t worry and please don’t head to the front of the bus to tag on, just take a seat and remember to tag off as usual.

Need to top up your Snapper? Not all of our kiosks and retailers are available right now, so now’s the time to download the iOS or Android Snapper apps. We’re here to help if you have trouble getting used to the app – get help or contact us here. If you’re unable to top up you can still catch the bus, just tag on and off as normal and please don’t pay the driver.

Snapper cards are really important for helping us keep track of how many people are using public transport right now. We understand that many Snapper retailers may appreciate the reduced foot traffic or even be closed, so if you don’t have a card we have contactless ordering via our website store to ensure you can travel. Snapper will be waiving all courier fees to support this option, but please be aware delivery delays may occur that are outside of our control.

Contact tracing

You might have seen our recent blog post about our collaboration with the Ministry of Health. We highly encourage scanning the NZ Covid Tracer app QR codes when you’re on board, but here’s how we’re doing our bit:

If contact tracing finds that a Wellington bus becomes a location of interest, an automated process kicks off to begin Snapper’s contact tracing process.

We review the trip and identify any other Snapper cards that were also used on the bus. A headcount of all passengers is passed on to MoH as well as – where requested by contact tracers under the Health Act – the contact details of all registered cards.

So how can you help? Mask up, use the NZ Covid Tracer app, make sure you’ve registered your Snapper card, and tag on and off the bus. By registering your card, contact tracers can be in direct contact with you if you were at risk based on your specific tag on and tag off time stamps.

The faster and more effectively we can help contact tracers identify any close contacts the faster we can mitigate the risk of further exposure.

Kia kaha Wellington,

We’ve done it before and we can do it again. You can help by being thoughtful and respectful to our frontline partners and service providers who continue to strive to provide you great service and customer experience, even in these uncertain and difficult times. Bus drivers, retail store owners and service support staff all need your support.

Our website will be the most up to date source of information of any Snapper changes that may affect you.

Stay safe and look after each other,

Team Snapper