About Bee Card

What is a Bee Card?

Bee Card is a pre-paid smartcard used in Taranaki and other participating regions to pay for your bus trips.

To use your Bee Card, simply tag on when you get on the bus by holding your card against the card reader. Wait for the beep and green light, then take a seat. When you reach your stop, tag off in the same way.

The card reader will show your fare and remaining balance when you tag off.

How do I get a Bee Card?

Bee Cards cost $5 each. A minimum top-up of $5 also applies.

There are two ways to get a Bee Card:

1. Order online

Order a card online at beecard.co.nzopen_in_new and have it posted to you (this could take up to 10 working days).

2. Buy in person

Pick up a Bee Card from the following retailers and locations in Taranaki:

• • New Plymouth i-SITE located within the Puke Ariki building on St Aubyn Street, New Plymouth | 10am-5pm daily
  • Tranzit at 15 Sunley Street, Westown | 8am-5pm Monday to Friday
  • Bell Block Library at 188 Parklands Avenue | 9am-5pm Monday, Wednesday & Friday, 9am-6pm Tuesday & Thursday, 9am-12pm Saturday
  • Waitara Library at 15 Queen Street | 9am-5pm Monday, Wednesday & Friday,9am-6pm Tuesday & Thursday, 9am-12pm Saturday
  • Stratford i-SITE inside the Stratford Library in Prospero Place | 8.30am-5pm Monday to Friday, 9am-1pm Saturdays
  • South Taranaki i-SITE at 121 High Street, Hawera | 8.30am-5pm Monday to Friday, 10am-3pm weekends
  • Ōpunake LibraryPlus at 43 Tasman Street, Ōpunake | 9am-5pm Monday - Friday & 9am-12.30pm Saturday

How to set up your Bee Card

1. Create a Bee Card account

If you haven’t already, pop online to beecard.co.nzopen_in_new and create a Bee Card account. You’ll need this to register your Bee Card.

Registering your card means you can:

• • Top up online Set up an auto top-up so you always have money on your card
  • Load concessions onto the card
  • View your transactions and journey history
  • Link other people's cards to your account - so that you can top up cards for family members
  • Cancel lost or stolen cards, and transfer any balance to a replacement card
  • Ensure you get the cheapest fare possible

2. Activate your card

You only need to activate your Bee Card if you purchased it online.

To activate your card, log in at beecard.co.nzopen_in_new and enter the three-digit security code found on the back of your card.

If you bought your Bee Card from a retailer, it will be activated automatically. You’ll be able to register it to your account after 10am the following day.

3. Load your concession information on it

To make sure you’re charged the correct fare, you’ll need to add any concession you’re eligible for to your Bee Card.

• Youth (aged 5–18): Add the child’s date of birth to the Bee Card they use. This is separate from the account holder’s details. The youth concession will then be applied automatically.
• SuperGold or Community Connect concession holders: You’ll need to manually load your concession onto your Bee Card.

Once added, you’ll automatically be charged the correct discounted fare when you tag on and off the bus.

Please note: Only one concession can be loaded onto each Bee Card.

4. Top up your Bee Card

You’ll need to ‘top up’ your Bee Card before you can use it, so that you can pay for your trip.There are two ways to do this.

1. Top up online at beecard.co.nzopen_in_new. 

Sign in to your account and follow the prompts to top up.

Online top-ups can take up to 12 hours to be ready. The credit will show as 'pending' until the card is tagged onto the bus successfully.

2. Top up on the bus using cash - just let the driver know how much you’d like to add.

The credit is available to use straight away.

Note that even if you normally travel for free, it’s a good idea to keep a small balance on your card in case you forget to tag off and get charged a default fare. If your card goes into negative balance you won’t be able to tag back on until you top up again.