Background to the change
The present Travel Card system will be renewed by 2014. The new Ticket and Information System will introduce travel cards based on new technology, as well as real-time passenger information in phases by 2014. Also the pricing policy of tickets will be revised.
Many more municipalities can join the system
The aim of the reform is to work out a fare payment system that is fair and easy for customers. The new system is planned so that it allows extension of the integrated ticketing system to the neighbouring municipalities approximately within an 80 km radius from downtown Helsinki.
According to preliminary plans, period tickets and single tickets will be priced according to zones along the lines of the current system, while value tickets will be prices according to the distance traveled.
Studies have also been made on introducing a possibility of combining period and value tickets in line with customers’ wishes. The combination would allow the users of period tickets to utilize their valid period ticket also for journeys outside its validity zone and use value only for paying for the part of the journey extending outside the validity zone of the period ticket.
Introduction of the new Travel Card
The change of cards is part of an extensive reform of YTV’s ticket and information system, which will be accomplished by 2014.
In the first phase of the project, the Travel Cards currently in use are changed to new cards and buses are equipped with GPS devices. These reforms will allow us to provide more real-time timetable information and enable the introduction of new web-based services. It will also be easier to expand the Travel Cards’ service area to new municipalities.
The reform introduces standard compliant cards enabling open tendering and cost-efficient development of the entire system. The new cards are ISO 14 443 compliant and significantly cheaper than the currently used cards.
Why the change?
All currently used Travel Cards will be changed to new cards that are more economic and technically more versatile than the currently used cards. The current Travel Cards have been in use for 8 years already. They have functioned excellently but they are reaching the end of their lifecycle. Generally, electronic cards, e.g. debit and credit cards, are renewed every few years.
By supplying the correct password at a selected few locations 
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