Bus fares are being increased in Tauranga by five per cent on October 1, but the Bay of Plenty Regional Council is denying price gouging.
The increase of about five per cent each fare is being made to cover the 2.5 per cent Goods and Services Tax increase also happening on October 1 - and also to account for past inflation.

The fares are rounded to the nearest 10 cents, says Bay of Plenty Regional Council transport policy manager Garry Maloney.
The additional 2.5 per cent is to cover inflation since 2001, says Gary. Fares have not increased since then, but fleet operating costs over that period have risen by 30 per cent.
The government subsidy through the New Zealand Transport Agency is inflation adjusted to three per cent over the three year period.
"If inflation goes over three per cent the expectation the government's put on the regional council is it will have to find that money somewhere," says Gary.
Pressure on the council from government means more fare increases are likely over the next few years says the council's transport committee chairman Andrew von Dadelszen.
At the moment the users pay 28 per cent of the costs. The regional council and the NZTA pay the balance.
"The government is saying they want users to pay up to 50 per cent," says Andrew.
"Wellington, Auckland and Christchurch have most of the buses, and this is aiming at them more than us. My personal view is we can expect to go over 30 to maybe 35 per cent in the next three years.
"We will pick up some of that as we get better patronage. If we put the fares up too high we lose patronage."
Hopper bus passenger numbers are increasing at 20 per cent a year.
The Tauranga service is currently carrying just under 1.4 million passengers per year, and based on current growth that is expected to rise by about another one million within the next three years, says Andrew.
Individual fare increases will be advertised on the BayBus website www.baybus.co.nz

Rotorua cash fare $2.30
Rotorua SmartRide fare $1.62
Tauranga cash adult Cityticket fare $2.60
Tauranga SmartRide adult Cityticket fare $2.10
Ohope to Whakatane cash child fare $1.60
Ohope to Whakatane SmartRide adult fare $1.26
The five per cent increase will also be applied to passengers using SmartRide cards.