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Travel services

Subsidised Ticket

The Subsidised Ticket that can be loaded on Matkahuolto's travel card is a convenient way of paying for trips compensated under the Social Welfare Act, the Act on Services and Assistance for the Disabled, and the Act on Health Insurance. Aside from offering quick and permanent cost savings, the system is easy to implement and use.

Benefits offered by the Subsidised Ticket loaded on Matkahuolto's travel card:

  •  easy to introduce and use
  •  low initial outlays and card costs
  •  itemized invoices specific to individual cards
  •  only travel card valid for both buses and taxis
  •  open and platform-independent
  •  timetable and bus stop information provided by Matkahuolto
  •  prevention of unauthorised use
  •  cost savings: use, monitoring, invoicing
 

The Social Insurance Institution Kela

 
For trips paid by Kela under the Act on Health Insurance, the travel rights are entered on the travel card in compliance with the travel rights and restrictions stipulated by Kela. Kela is free to determine the period of validity of the Subsidised Ticket and the travel rights as it sees fit.
 
The person using the card will be required to pay the minimum amount defined by Kela on the means of transport involved. As the travel card indicates the required minimum payment to the driver automatically, errors in collecting the fares are avoided. If the journey includes several legs, the passenger is required to pay the minimum amount only once, or until the ceiling for the minimum amount is reached.
 
Once the travel card is validated, the trip is saved on the payment terminal that transmits the data to Matkahuolto for clearing. Matkahuolto will charge the amount exceeding the minimum amount to Kela and make the payment to the taxi or bus company or other operator according to the actual applicable fare. Matkahuolto will send Kela a consolidated hardcopy invoice, but since 1998 the data on trips made have been forwarded to Kela in electronic format as well for statistical and auditing purposes.
 
The Rovaniemi Travel Dispatch Centre was the first in Finland to adopt the Subsidised Ticket on 1 April 2005 assuming the overall responsibility for the coordination of a system for the trips compensated by Kela under the Act on Health Insurance and the trips compensated by municipalities under the Social Welfare Act and the Act on Service and Assistance for the Disabled. The plan is to extend the system to cover all of the Province of Lapland. From 1 January 2006, the agency responsible for the system has been the rural municipality of Rovaniemi. The Provincial State Office of Lapland and Kela are also involved in the project. The current project was preceded by the transportation coordination project launched by the Rovaniemi Central Hospital in 1997.
 
As far as Kela is concerned, the Travel Dispatch Centre is responsible for coordinating and combining healthcare-related trips between the Rovaniemi Central Hospital and the Oulu University Central Hospital. When the trips are organised, by far the longest leg of the journey is made by bus because the average distance travelled to the Lapland Central Hospital is about 200 km. Where possible, due consideration is given to the public transport facilities when appointment times are assigned.
 

Municipalities

 
In the transport services to be provided by municipalities and towns, the travel rights under the Social Welfare Act and the Act on Services and Assistance for the Disabled are loaded on the travel card subject to the applicable restrictions. For example, a Subsidised Ticket can be valid for 1 to 3 years at a time and the number of trips can be limited to 18 per month.
 
The passenger presents the card to the card reader when boarding. The card indicates to the driver the minimum amount to be collected from each passenger based on the applicable fare. Additionally, the card identifies the individual legs of the journey automatically.
 
The payment transactions are forwarded to Matkahuolto for clearing. Subsequently, Matkahuolto sends a consolidated hardcopy invoice to the municipality/town or travel dispatch centre and also provides, if necessary, the invoicing data on trips made in electronic format for statistical and accounting purposes. The outstanding amounts are credited to the taxi and bus operators.
 
The Rovaniemi Travel Dispatch Centre was the first in Finland to adopt the Subsidised Ticket on 1 April 2005 assuming the overall responsibility for the coordination of the system with regard to the trips compensated by Kela under the Act on Health Insurance and the trips compensated by municipalities under the Social Welfare Act and the Act on Service and Assistance for the Disabled. Responsibility for the systems rests with the City of Rovaniemi. The Provincial State Office of Lapland and Kela are also involved in the project.
 

Bus and taxi operators

 
The Subsidised Ticket is loaded on the travel card in the same way as other ticket products. Currently over half a million Finns pay their bus fares using Matkahuolto's travel cards. By signing an agreement to joint the Matkahuolto system, travel card users will also become your customers.
 
Joining the Matkahuolto system is easy, and the agreement can be made at your nearest service outlet. One precondition for the agreement is that your vehicle is equipped with an onboard terminal that accepts Matkahuolto's travel cards. At present, the travel cards work with Buscom, Lancron, Pusatec and Semel terminals, and will soon work with Point and Rahaxi units as well. Additionally, a security module and travel card reader application available from the terminal manufacturer must be installed on the unit. The control card will be provided by Matkahuolto.
 
The service covers the acquisition, maintenance and distribution costs of travel cards; clearing, monitoring and reporting of payment transactions and a wide range of other services that make your work easier. The system is based on a transparent payment and accounting system. Matkahuolto will credit the payments to your bank account twice a month.
 
Once you join the travel card system, your company information will be posted in Matkahuolto's centralised timetable information system. It serves as a versatile source of information for customers, enabling timetable queries at Matkahuolto's website.  About 500,000 customers visit this website every month. Additionally, customers find information on printed wall and platform timetables and the national timetable information number 0200 4000.
 
Contact your nearest Matkahuolto service outlet and sign an agreement to join the system.