A submission will be made by Invercargill City Council to central Government on the proposed changes to the Total Mobility Programme.

The Ministry of Transport’s proposed changes to the programme included making eligibility assessments more consistent, introducing targeted support allocations, and allowing new types of providers – such as ride-share services – to enter the scheme.

Its changes already included reducing the subsidy a Total Mobility User would receive from 75 percent to 65 percent, and reducing regional fare caps by about 10 percent nationally.

The proposed changes would take effect from 1 July this year. Council’s Infrastructure and Growth Committee this week received a report on the Total Mobility Programme proposal consultation, which noted Council’s improved budget position as a result of changes made in a 2025 review of the scheme within Southland.

Infrastructure and Growth Committee Chair, Councillor Alex Crackett, said the Total Mobility Programme provided essential support to people living with disabilities within the community, allowing them to access subsidised taxi services.

In 2025, Council had engaged with the disability community as part of a review of the programme within the region, prompted by an increase in costs beyond the budget allocated for the programme.

“Last year’s review included a really comprehensive consultation with our community, and it’s pleasing to see it has resulted in such a positive outcome,” she said.

Throughout 2025, Council worked with Total Mobility users, assessors, and providers to consider how it could enable people to continue accessing the services they needed in a financially-sustainable way.

The work Council and the community had done had already proven successful, and provided an option for the Government to consider nationwide, she said.

Contracts with providers had been updated, to ensure that the user-pays portion of the service was charged. “We want to ensure vulnerable members of our community are able to continue using the Total Mobility service – we don’t want people who rely on this to miss out,” she said.

“This one change alone has already had a significant positive impact on improving Council’s financial position, without impacting the subsidy level or the number of trips members of our disabled community can make through the scheme.”

Committee members also agreed to a recommendation in the report, which would pause any further local action until the Government’s reduction to the subsidy level was implemented.

This would allow Council to gain an understanding of the impact this change would have to users of the scheme, Crackett said. Council’s Acting Group Manager Infrastructure Russell Pearson said Southland – like many other areas around the motu – had experienced a surge in demand for the service.

Council’s submission supported the introduction of eligibility evidence, but asked the Government to ensure this was flexible, and noted the variety of disabilities covered by the programme, the expertise of assessors in Southland, and the inherent sensitivity of asking people to provide evidence of their condition.

It also noted that local assessor agencies did great work supporting the programme, and if their workload was to increase, the Government would need to consider providing additional funding to support their mahi.

Its submission also called on the Government to offer an exemption for those with permanent disabilities, and instead introduce a reassessment based on any significant change to public transport options which changed accessibility options, Pearson said.

Council administered the programme for the Southland region, with delegation to do so from Environment Southland.