No increases to single ticket prices, prices of season and value tickets set to rise

HSL’s public transport ticket prices will rise on average by 4.1 per cent at the beginning of 2017. The prices of season and value tickets as well as day tickets will rise. There will be no changes to the prices of mobile tickets and other single tickets.

The prices of season tickets will go up by an average of 4.2 per cent. For example, a one-zone 30-day ticket for adults will increase by 2.30 euros to 54.70 euros. The price of a corresponding regional ticket will increase by 4.10 euros to 106.50 euros. A 30-day three-zone extended regional ticket valid in the whole HSL area will next year costs 158.40 euros, an increase of 6.10 euros.

HSL season tickets are still inexpensive. For example, if you divide the price of a 30-day ticket by the average number of commutes, i.e. 44, the price of a journey to work with a regional ticket for adults is 2.42 euros and with one-zone tickets 1.24 euros. The more you travel with the ticket, the lower the price of an individual journey.

Children and students travel at half the adult fare. The discounts for other special groups are 25 or 50 per cent.

The prices of Travel Card value tickets will increase by an average of 5.5 per cent. A one-zone adult value ticket will cost 2.18 euros (up by 0.12 euros), a regional ticket 4.25 euros (up by 0.21 euros) and a three-zone extended regional ticket 6.32 euros (up by 0.23 euros). Value tickets will still be a more economical option than single tickets.

There will be no changes to single ticket prices. A one-zone adult single ticket bought from the driver will next year cost 3.20 euros, regional single ticket 5.50 euros and a three-zone extended region ticket 8 euros. Single tickets bought in advance are cheaper: a one-zone adult single ticket costs 2.90 euros, a regional ticket 5 euros and a three-zone extended regional ticket 7.20 euros.

Single tickets can be purchased in advance on a mobile application, by SMS or from ticket machines. The mobile tickets introduced last year as well as SMS tickets have rapidly increased in popularity. There will be no changes to their prices at the beginning of next year.

With the exception of Helsinki, the prices of single tickets bought from ticket machines will decrease. In future, single tickets purchased from ticket machines will cost 10 per cent less than tickets purchased from drivers across the region. At the moment, tickets from ticket machines are cheaper than tickets bought from drivers only in Helsinki. The prices of tickets purchased from ticket machines will increase in Helsinki by 10-20 cents due to the price harmonization.    

 “All in all I’m content that we managed to make the increases smaller than anticipated in May. Back then it seemed that we would need to increase the prices by 5.5 per cent. The increases are due to increased public transport infrastructure costs. The price calculations are based on the premise that the West Metro would operate for six months next year. The calculations for the other six months include the cost of the bus services replacing the Metro,” says HSL Executive Director Suvi Rihtniemi.

About half of the costs of HSL public transport are covered by ticket revenue, the other half by municipal funding, i.e. tax revenue. In the current economic situation, HSL member municipalities are not able to increase their share of funding. Because costs are increasing, the only option is to increase ticket prices. The third and worst option would be cutting services.

HSL proposes an increase for the penalty fare from 80 euros to 100 euros. The fare has remained unchanged since 2007. The amount of the penalty fare is fixed by the Ministry of Transport and Communications.

For more information about HSL’s tickets see: https://www.hsl.fi/en/tickets-and-fares