PROMOTING * New Zealand - Discounts and courtesy to lure passengers onto buses

Auckland tertiary students are in for bigger discounts next year on all public transport trips, and bus passengers from all walks of life may be in for treats ranging from biscuits, "mood" music - and smiling drivers

Auckland,New Zealand -The New Zealand Herald, by Mathew Dearnaley -December 13, 2007: -- ... The Auckland Regional Transport Authority, in a bid primarily to boost sluggish bus patronage, announced yesterday that it will double student discounts on all forms of public transport from 20 per cent to 40 per cent from February... Although that will be at an extra annual subsidy cost of $1.1 million, the move is expected to boost public transport patronage by 250,000 trips a year... For the longer term, the authority has produced a development plan in pursuit of a common customer service standard across all bus operators to which it pays subsidies for contracted services... (Photo / NZ Herald on Sunday: Plan to standardise customer service on buses)