Cost Sharing

CrownHop is built on a fair and transparent cost-sharing model. Running costs reflect real trip distance — shorter journeys use a higher per-km rate; longer highway trips taper down — then split among the driver and passengers who actually travel. Not profit, not fares.

Distance-based running costs

Trip running cost is the sum of marginal distance bands below (like tax brackets — each slice of the journey uses its tier rate), then divided equally among everyone in the car — the driver plus booked passengers.

CrownHop uses distance-based running-cost bands (shorter trips cost more per km; long highway trips less). No band exceeds the NZTA maximum reimbursement rate of $0.73 per kilometre for facilitated cost-sharing.

Up to 15 km

$0.66/km

16–30 km

$0.56/km

31–50 km

$0.50/km

51–80 km

$0.47/km

81–120 km

$0.44/km

121–160 km

$0.43/km

161–220 km

$0.41/km

221–300 km

$0.40/km

301–400 km

$0.39/km

Over 400 km

$0.36/km

Trip total

Sum of distance bands (marginal $/km tiers)

Per person

Trip total ÷ (1 driver + booked passengers)

Passenger pays

Their per-person share + capped service contribution

As more seats fill, the per-person share drops because the same trip cost is split more ways. Empty seats you listed but did not sell are not charged to passengers. A small capped service contribution may also apply per seat — see the table below.

Platform service contribution

Each passenger pays a capped platform service contribution on top of their cost-share. The percentage depends on trip distance; the fee is always the lower of that percentage of the per-person running share or the cap for that distance band.

Up to 20 km

Rate

20% of cost share

Cap

$3.00 max per seat

21–100 km

Rate

15% of cost share

Cap

$6.00 max per seat

101–300 km

Rate

10% of cost share

Cap

$10.00 max per seat

301–700 km

Rate

7.5% of cost share

Cap

$15.00 max per seat

Over 700 km

Rate

5% of cost share

Cap

$20.00 max per seat

This contribution goes to CrownHop for facilitating the booking — it is not paid to the driver as profit.

Example Breakdown

Illustrative Queenstown–Wānaka corridor (70 km, blended $0.54/km) with a driver and 1 passenger (2 people in the car).

Trip running cost (distance bands, 70 km)$37.70
Per person ($37.70 ÷ 2)$18.85
Service contribution (15% of cost-share, capped)$2.83
Per seat before GST$21.68
Passenger Pays
$24.93

Approx. including 15% GST

NZTA maximum cap: $0.73/km — no band above this limit.