New pricing principles would cause considerable increase to Helsinki top-up travel card prices

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A fundamental change threatens to alter completely the pricing of Helsinki’s public transportation tickets in the next decade.
      Within the city limits a pricing model is being planned that would divide the public transportation travel card users into two castes.
      The change would radically increase the prices of top-up travel cards and single tickets. The price of prepaid travel cards that are valid for a certain time period, in turn, would remain unchanged.
     
The change is part of the Helsinki Metropolitan Area Council’s (YTV) ticket renewal process, as a result of which the ticket prices within the outer districts would become cheaper. In Helsinki, on the other hand, the ticket prices would either stay the same or go up.
      The criteria for the changes will be handled by the Helsinki City Council today, Monday.
     
In Helsinki, the minimum charge of EUR 1.65 on a prepaid top-up card would entitle the card holder to travel a distance of six kilometres.
      After that each extra kilometre causes an additional charge to be deducted from the card.
      In addition, plans have been drafted to increase the price of a single ticket purchased from the driver to EUR 4.50.
      The travel card use would be fundamentally modernised. According to YTV’s plans, in the future the travellers would have to swipe their cards both when getting on and getting off a public transportation vehicle.
      The deducted price would then be determined based on the distance between the two points.
      From the passengers’ point of view, a good memory is essential.
      If one forgets to swipe his or her card when exiting a bus, tram, or train, the maximum distance charge will be levied, even if the actual travelled distance was shorter.
      Eleven percent of the people who use public transportation in the capital area rely on top-up travel cards. Nine percent of the passengers still purchase single tickets.
      Forty-three per cent of the Helsinki residents live within a six-kilometre radius from the Central Railway Station.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Helsinki City Transport to cut ticket prices in May (4.3.2009)

Links:
  Helsinki Metropolitan Area Council (YTV)

Helsingin Sanomat