Finland is still the largest foreign labor market for Estonians, and Estonia is one of the most popular tourist destinations among Finns. Buying tickets in a familiar way makes travel and commuting easier and more environmentally friendly.
“The main goal in the development of a cross-border ticketing system is to encourage people to give up driving and use public transport more. Being able to buy tickets easily and using your mother tongue encourages people to make more environmentally friendly choices. When we were planning this project, we had no one to learn from and there were no examples to follow. To our knowledge, no similar idea has been carried out successfully elsewhere,” says Tiit Laiksoo, the Head of Ticketing Division at Tallinn Transport Department.
“A joint ticketing system for our major cities is a demonstration of strong cooperation between two neighboring states. User-friendliness and green and environmentally friendly thinking are the key elements in this project,” says Mari Flink, HSL Director of Customer Experience and Sales.
The cross-border system allows passengers who travel from Estonia to Helsinki to buy public transport tickets via the Pilet.ee 2020 app. You can buy tickets conveniently using the app without queueing at a kiosk or without an HSL card. Another new feature is the possibility to buy day tickets for Tallinn and Tartu with the HSL card online at https://tallinn.pilet.ee/buy. You can tickets buy entering your HSL card number in the service. You can track your journeys at https://tallinn.pilet.ee/tickets/personalcode
One of Tallinn’s key priorities has been developing modern e-solutions for residents and visitors. The new system not only provides a convenient way to use public transport but also offers a possibility to give up buying plastic cards or paper tickets,” says Andrei Novikov, the Deputy Mayor of Tallinn.
“The joint ticketing system makes the use of public transport easier for Tartu residents in Helsinki and for Finns in Tartu, thus making it easy to choose an environmentally friendly mode of transport. During the coronavirus pandemic, passenger numbers were lower than usual, but since the restrictions were lifted travel between Tartu and Helsinki has been very important for both business and leisure travelers," says Raimond Tamm, Deputy Mayor of Tartu.
The joint tickets are valid on public transport in the project cities (not on provincial routes or on Elron trains).
The cross-border ticketing system was developed through cooperation between the three under the E-ticketing project funded through the European Union Interreg Central Baltic Programme. The Pilet.ee 2020 app has been developed by AS Ridango.