Nelson City Council

Nelson Tasman door-to-door transport services for people with disabilities

Total Mobility is a door-to-door passenger transport scheme designed to use regular taxi vehicles and modified taxis for wheelchair access. Its purpose is to increase the mobility of people with disabilities, so that they may access passenger transport in a similar fashion to others in the community.

In the Nelson and Tasman regions, the Nelson City Council administers the Total Mobility Scheme, with Tasman District Council making a contribution towards the budget. The local authorities fund the local share of the budget via rates, with the remainder coming from New Zealand Transport Agency funding.

The scheme entitles eligible people to receive a discount on their taxi fare by way of Total Mobility vouchers subject to local conditions. The vouchers can be used in other regions of New Zealand where a local authority operates the scheme subject to that authority's conditions. The current discount rate is 50% to a maximum discount of $10 per trip.

Nelson Tasman Total Mobility operates within the regions administered by Nelson City Council and Tasman District Council:

• Northeast of Nelson City to the Marlborough District Council boundary at the Rai Saddle
• Nelson City and suburbs
• South including urban and rural Richmond, Hope, Brightwater and Wakefield to Buller District Council boundary south of Murchison
• Northwest to Mapua, Motueka and Golden Bay

Participating transport services operators

Who can use Total Mobility

This scheme is only available to people with a disability which impairs their mobility to a level that stops them from using a public bus service or requires the constant assistance of another person. All applicants are assessed for eligibility by an agency approved by the Council.

Eligibility criteria

An eligible person must have an impairment that prevents them from undertaking any one or more of the following five components of a journey unaccompanied, on a bus, train or ferry in a safe and dignified manner:

• Getting to the place from where the transport depart
• Getting onto the transport
• Riding securely
• Getting off transport
• Getting to the destination

Acceptable reasons could be inability or difficulty to:

• Walk 500 metres unaided, approximate distance from Nelson's clock tower up Trafalgar Street to Hardy Street
• Understand and follow directions, comumunicate clearly with others, read timetables and place names
• Understand and use available information to assist you to plan and undertake short journeys by public transport
• Enter and exit public transport safely unaided
• Taking responsibility for ones own personal safety and dignity throughout the journey
• Handle money to purchase the required fare

How to join Total Mobility

The agencies listed below are responsible for assessing people's eligibility to join the Total Mobility Scheme and issuing the Total Mobility vouchers. These agencies are permitted to charge an assessment fee. Those people who are approved to use the vouchers must also pay their agency's annual subscription. We suggest you join an agency that provides services for people with a similar disability to your own.

Please note that being a member of a Total Mobility agency, having a disability and the fact that your area of Nelson City/Tasman District is not covered by a public bus service, does not automatically make you eligible for Total Mobility vouchers.

Nelson City Council and Golden Bay Residents

Residents of Nelson City and Golden Bay are to contact one of the above-listed agencies to join the scheme.

Tasman District Residents

Residents of Tasman District who intend using taxis or other approved operator based within Motueka or the surrounding area are to contact

Tasman District Council
Motueka Service Centre
+64 3 528 2022

for application forms, and return completed forms in person to

7 Hickmott Place, Motueka

or post to

Tasman District Council
Motueka Service Centre
PO. Box 123 Motueka

instead of the above agencies.

Find out more

For more information or assistance contact

William Miles, Total Mobility Administrator
William.Miles@ncc.govt.nz
Nelson City Council
PO Box 645 Nelson 7040
+64 3 548 6603

Mobility Parking Permit

The Mobility Parking Permit is a different scheme, which is administered by

CCS Disability Action Nelson Marlborough
+64 3 548 4479

Your permit allows you to park in designated Mobility Car Parks in all private car parks, for example shopping malls, hospitals and supermarkets.

No concessions

• There are no concessions for parking in a designated Mobility Car Park where Time Limits apply
• There are no concessions for parking under 30 minutes, for example P15, P10, P5, P3, P2
• There are no concessions for parking in time zones P120 or P180

UK mobility parking badges accepted in Nelson

Nelson City Council accepts UK parking badge, please check with other local authorities if travelling around New Zealand; most do accept it.