For Tauranga resident Jan Nesbit, who is blind, the increase raises difficult questions about what she can afford to do.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt means that I might not be able to go out to the physio, to the bank, to the hospital, which I quite often do.\u201d<\/p>\n
Nesbit was diagnosed as legally blind in 2009 after a progressive retinal disorder caused a sudden loss of sight at the end of 2008.<\/p>\n
She said she had already lost so much independence that she did not want to lose more. <\/p>\n
\u201cI find it confining enough that I can\u2019t see and rush around as much as I used to … I\u2019d probably just shut myself in the house and just stay in the house.”<\/p>\n
She said she had gone from someone who travelled throughout New Zealand for work with a medical company to being unable to drive or take public transport.<\/p>\n
Now, as someone who relies on the Total Mobility Scheme, she is \u201cafraid\u201d of the changes. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s taking money off people who can\u2019t afford to have money taken off them and who need it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Nesbit said she requires transport support for appointments and for even routine tasks, such as having her toenails cut, which was something she said sighted people did not have to think about. <\/p>\n
She said the subsidy reduction might sound small on paper but would be felt deeply. <\/p>\n
\u201cGoing from 75% to 65% doesn\u2019t sound much when you\u2019re earning multi-thousands and thousands a week. But if you\u2019re on a pension, that\u2019s quite a bit of money.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jan Nesbit relies on the Total Mobility Scheme for essential travel<\/p>\n
Blind Low Vision New Zealand chief executive Andrea Midgen said the reduction came at a time when many people were already struggling with the rising cost of living. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe are concerned it will increase social isolation and further disadvantage a group that is already facing significant challenges.\u201d<\/p>\n
She warned that higher costs would deepen disadvantage, citing the 2025 Shining a Light on Blindness report, which found that 60% of people with severe vision impairment earned between $20,000 and $40,000 a year.<\/p>\n
\u201cTotal Mobility is not a luxury for people who are blind, deaf blind, or have low vision. It\u2019s an essential service.\u201d<\/p>\n
Midgen said the reduced subsidy would change people\u2019s ability to work, attend medical appointments, buy groceries, and participate in everyday life.<\/p>\n
\u201cTotal Mobility allows people to access their communities with dignity and safely.\u201d<\/p>\n
Age Concern Tauranga general manager Tanya Smith said the scheme played a vital role in helping older people maintain their independence. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe Total Mobility Scheme empowers them to have the autonomy and go and do what they used to be able to do when they were driving.\u201d<\/p>\n
She expected the reduction would hit pensioners hard, who were already having to \u201ctighten their belts\u201d as living costs rose.<\/p>\n
However, Smith said it did not outweigh the scheme\u2019s benefits.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a really great tool to have in the toolbox. I don\u2019t want to down it, because it\u2019s still enabling people to get where they need to go if they\u2019re financially able.\u201d<\/p>\n
A Ministry of Transport spokesperson said the Government announced the changes in December 2025, giving users six months\u2019 notice to prepare. <\/p>\n
The spokesperson said Total Mobility costs had increased rapidly after the subsidy rose from 50% to 75% in 2022. <\/p>\n
The higher subsidy led to more users and trips, placing pressure on funding from the Crown, public transport authorities and the National Land Transport Fund.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo address the rising costs and ensure the scheme is financially sustainable, the Government decided to reduce the fare subsidy.<\/p>\n
\u201cReducing the subsidy will ensure the continued viability of the scheme.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bay of Plenty Regional Council transport operations manager Simon Bell said the upcoming changes were a result of a nationwide review of Total Mobility undertaken by central government. <\/p>\n
\u201c[The] regional council recognises that Total Mobility is an important service for people who cannot use public transport due to serious mobility constraints.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bell said it was too early to determine how demand or usage might change once the new subsidy took effect, but the council would continue to monitor use and feedback from users and providers.<\/p>\n
Zoe Blake is a multimedia journalist at the Bay of Plenty Times and Rotorua Daily Post. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"For Tauranga resident Jan Nesbit, who is blind, the increase raises difficult questions about what she can afford…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":487977,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[665,1561,3588,14768,48947,305,14607,7973,10674,130,111,43,139,69,1118,384,1562,160404,2249,151783,12720,3940,112,1315,16742,1533],"class_list":["post-487976","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-zealand","tag-around","tag-bay","tag-cut","tag-every","tag-fearing","tag-have","tag-isolation","tag-leaves","tag-mobility","tag-more","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-of","tag-people","tag-plenty","tag-rely","tag-soon","tag-subsidised","tag-subsidy","tag-total","tag-transport","tag-trip","tag-users","tag-will"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/487976","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=487976"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/487976\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/487977"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=487976"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=487976"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=487976"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}