This paper describes the Finnish smart card strategy concerning public transport and aims to give a picture of the main Finnish smart card projects and the studies that have been made on user acceptance. Finland is one of the most advanced countries in the research and application of smart cards. Smart cards have been utilised in public transport in Finland for several years. The Ministry of Transport and Communications (MTC) is very active in the development work of smart card systems and it has drawn up national specifications on smart card based payment systems in public transport. Currently the most interesting local smart card projects in public transport in Finland are in Tampere, in Turku and in Helsinki and its neighbouring cities. The nation-wide payment system of Matkahuolto Ltd for bus transport was at the time of its implementation the first nation-wide smart card based payment system in public transport.
Samenvatting