A new ticketing and payment system is being developed in Finland. The new system will allow one travel card to be used in different forms of public transportation across the country. The Finnish government and 22 towns have jointly founded the company TVV Lippu- ja maksujärjestelmä Oy to provide the new service as well as signed an agreement with Tieto Finland Oy to deliver a unified ticketing and payment service.
The new system will allow passengers to use only one travel card within the regions that are part of the initiative. During the first stage, the travel cards can be used in buses, but the card use can be expanded to other forms of transportation in the future.
The company TVV Lippu- ja maksujärjestelmä Oy currently provides services to 22 of the main urban centres in Finland outside the capital city region. The municipalities and the Centres for Economic Development, Transport and the Environment (ELY), which are responsible for rural transportation in Finland, will decide on ticket prices and when the new service will be introduced. The service now being procured will be completed by the end of 2014. The total package includes the back-end systems, card application, interfaces, the sales and service point applications and maintenance services. Helsinki region public transport (HSL) is running its own extensive ticketing and information system renewal project, which will be completed by end-2015.
– A unified travel card makes public transportation easier and more attractive for passengers. All parties will benefit from this over the longer term, including passengers, the authorities and operators. The system will also offer new business opportunities in services aimed at people travelling by different forms of transportation, says Ilkka Kankkunen, CEO of TVV Lippu- ja maksujärjestelmä Oy.
The project supports government objectives and transportation policy review goals by making public transportation services more interoperable. Services can also be offered more efficiently as individual regions do not each need to procure and maintain their own ticketing and payment systems.
– The cities currently use payment systems and travel cards from a variety of different suppliers. A unified travel card system facilities the use of transportation services and the purchase of tickets. It also enables the creation of new, nation-wide services, says the Finnish Transport Agency's Project Manager Helge Finnberg.
This project will provide public transportation authorities with an interoperable service for monitoring and gathering statistical data on passenger numbers and the use of ticket types. This data will improve route network planning and support a fair and balanced process for competitive bidding between operators, leading to cost savings for the public sector in the long term.
– This is an important agreement for Tieto. We want to take part in developing Finland's public transportation system, and together with TVV Lippu- ja maksujärjestelmä Oy, we can now improve Finland's public transportation system through a nation-wide, interoperable payment system, says Leila Lehtinen, Vice President of Tieto Public Finland.
TVV Lippu- ja maksujärjestelmä Oy is an IT service and procurement company jointly owned by the Finnish government and various municipalities. It operates in over 20 of the main cities around Finland. The company aims to procure, develop, and maintain a unified ticketing and payment system for relevant public transportation authorities.
In addition to the Finnish government (the Finnish Transport Agency), the following cities have joined the public transportation system's Lippu- ja maksujärjestelmä Oy: Hämeenlinna, Imatra, Joensuu, Jyväskylä, Kajaani, Kemi, Kokkola, Kotka, Kouvola, the city of Kuopio, Lahti, Lappeenranta, Mikkeli, Oulu, Pori, Rovaniemi, Savonlinna, Seinäjoki, Tampere, Turku, Vaasa and Salo.