Giving up driving is usually described as a safety decision. In practice it is a logistics decision, and it lands hardest on the ordinary trips — the supermarket, the physiotherapist, a friend’s house on a Sunday. Buses do not help much if the difficulty is getting to the bus stop, or standing while it moves, or the fact that some days are simply not walking days.
New Zealand’s answer to that is Total Mobility, plus a set of separate schemes for the cost of getting to medical treatment. They are administered by different bodies and they do not overlap neatly. Checked in August 2026.
Total Mobility: what it is and what it pays
NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi describes the scheme as one that
assists eligible people - with permanent disabilities and long-term impairments - to access appropriate transport to meet their daily needs and enhance their ability to participate in their community.
The subsidy:
The subsidy per trip is 65% of the fare, (from 1 July 2026) up to a maximum subsidy.
It is door-to-door transport, usually taxi, and some regions also offer special rates on public transport for scheme members.
The mobility assessment, and how to prepare for it
Eligibility is not automatic on diagnosis:
To determine eligibility, all Total Mobility clients will undergo a mobility assessment to evaluate all available transport options that could meet an individual’s needs.
Note what that assessment is actually asking. It is not “can you walk”. It is whether the ordinary transport options can meet your needs. That is the frame to answer in.
When you are approved, “the public transport authority will issue clients with an electronic card loaded with their subsidy.” And usefully, “Total Mobility subsidies can be claimed anywhere in New Zealand where the scheme operates” — so the card is not stranded in your own region when you travel.
Mobility parking permit
Mobility parking permits are run nationally by CCS Disability Action, which has administered the scheme since 1977. There are three routes to eligibility, and the third is the one people overlook:
You are unable to walk and always require the use of a wheelchair, or
Your ability to walk distances is severely restricted by a medical condition or disability. For example, if you require the use of mobility aids, experience severe pain or breathlessness, or
You have a medical condition or disability that requires you to have physical contact or close supervision to safely get around and cannot be left unattended.
The authorisation is medical: “Only a Medical Practitioner or Nurse Practitioner can authorise a Mobility Parking Permit,” and a NZMC or NZNC registration number is required on the form. There are long-term and short-term permits — long-term holders get a renewal letter before expiry, while short-term holders go back to their doctor for a new authorisation.
Applications go to the Mobility Parking Permit Hub, CCS Disability Action, PO Box 267, Christchurch 8140, or by email to apply@MobilityParking.org.nz. Permits are printed three times a week and arrive by standard post, “up to two weeks”.
Three schemes for the cost of getting to treatment
This is where people either miss money or apply to the wrong place. The three do not stack.
| Scheme | Who runs it | Roughly when it fits |
|---|---|---|
| Disability Allowance | Work and Income | Ongoing, regular travel because of your disability, including travel to your doctor, specialist or hospital. Up to $82.85 a week, untaxed, no benefit required |
| Help with health-related travel costs | Work and Income | A one-off or occasional need, on a low income. “We generally pay up to $300 in a year” |
| National Travel Assistance | Health New Zealand | Long distances or very frequent specialist visits, where a specialist has referred you to another specialist |
Work and Income’s travel help covers “actual and reasonable travel costs for a return journey of at least 8 kms to the place of treatment, assessment or services”, plus “accommodation and meal costs if you need to stay away from home overnight”. You must be referred by a registered health practitioner, have “an immediate and essential need”, and there are income and asset limits. Crucially, it is for people not already getting help from a Health Agency, the National Travel Assistance Scheme, or Disability Allowance. Applications are by phone: 0800 559 009.
National Travel Assistance “helps people who need to travel long distances or travel frequently.” The referral has to come from a specialist, to another specialist, both publicly funded — a GP referral does not qualify. Then you have to meet one of several distance or frequency criteria, which include travelling more than 350km one way per visit as an adult, visiting a specialist six or more times in six months while travelling over 50km one way, or holding a Community Services Card and travelling over 80km one way. It reimburses a published per-kilometre mileage rate, plus accommodation “up to $140 per night, with invoice attached” or “$35 per night” if you stay with family or friends. You register through your hospital travel coordinator and claim with receipts.
Vehicle modifications, and the question of driving
Disability Support Services can fund vehicle modifications for people who have difficulty getting into or out of a vehicle or difficulty driving, and says one-off funding towards purchasing a vehicle for modification may be considered in some circumstances. That goes through the same EMS assessment route as other equipment — see equipment and home modifications.
On driving itself: medical fitness to drive is decided under NZ Transport Agency rules, with your doctor’s assessment at the centre of it, and the rules change with age and with condition. This page does not summarise them, because getting them slightly wrong would be worse than not saying anything. Ask your GP or neurologist directly, and ask early — the useful conversation is the one you have while you still have options, not the one after a licence decision has already been made.
What is worth doing early is applying for Total Mobility before you stop driving. The assessment takes time, and the gap between the last drive and the first subsidised taxi is where people become isolated.
If this applies to you
| Your situation | What to do |
|---|---|
| You are thinking about stopping driving | Apply for Total Mobility now, not later. The assessment takes time |
| You do not know your per-trip cap | Ring your regional public transport authority. The 65% is national, the maximum is not |
| You are travelling to another region | Your card works “anywhere in New Zealand where the scheme operates” |
| You can walk but cannot be left standing alone safely | You may still qualify for a mobility parking permit under the supervision criterion |
| You need a mobility parking permit | Only a Medical Practitioner or Nurse Practitioner can authorise it. Book that appointment first |
| You travel to appointments every month | Claim it through Disability Allowance rather than one-off travel help |
| You travel a very long way to see a specialist | Ask your hospital about National Travel Assistance, and note the referral must be specialist-to-specialist |
| You already get Disability Allowance for travel | You are not eligible for Work and Income’s separate travel help as well |
| Getting into the car is the problem | Ask about vehicle modifications through an EMS assessment |
This page is not medical or legal advice and does not decide your eligibility. The 65% subsidy rate applies from 1 July 2026 and other figures were checked in August 2026. Maximum subsidies are set regionally — confirm yours with your regional public transport authority.