Transportation Management
The Metropolitan Council grouped together different Public Transportation companies operating in the Metropolitan area, such as HKL, operator of the metro, Suomenlinna ferry service and bus services within the Helsinki region, and published a timetable of all public transport quarterly, and provided a public transport route planner service on the Internet. It also ran ticketing and prices, fixing prices at the same level for all public transportation, irrespective of method or transportation company. These services are now (since January 1, 2010) provided by Helsingin seudun liikenne.
Most tickets are bought using the electronic travel cards, a smart card service run by Buscom. These travel cards support two types of payment for trips:
| English | Finnish | Swedish | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Value | arvo | värde | A specific amount of money can be spent, within an unlimited time period. There are no inherent zone restrictions as each zone can charge for its trips individually. |
| Period | aika | period | An unlimited number of trips can be made, within a specific limited time period. The time periods are specific to each zone separately. |
If the same travel card is loaded with both value and period, period takes priority when applicable to the current zone. If the period runs out, or the passenger travels to a zone where the period is not applicable, value is used instead.
The travel cards can be bought through certain shops and Public Transport Information Centres.
The Helsinki Metropolitan Area Council currently manages the following zones:
- Helsinki
- Espoo and Kauniainen
- Vantaa
- Regional traffic 1: Helsinki, Espoo, Kauniainen and Vantaa
- Regional traffic 2: Espoo, Kauniainen, Vantaa, Kerava and Kirkkonummi (excluding Helsinki)
- Entire region: Helsinki, Espoo, Kauniainen, Vantaa, Kerava and Kirkkonummi
Read more about this topic: Helsinki Metropolitan Area Council
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