Winter is a hard time typically to get around in Finland if you don't have a car, don't have a bike (or can't ride one yet), live far from downtown or have a stroller to push.
I don't have a car, don't have winter tires on my bike (and still have yet to ride it), don't live very far from downtown and often have a double stroller to push...
There are hills as well, and the last time I walked downtown with the kids - there was barely any ice and I was sliding backwards with the weight of the double stroller and kids pushing me back easily. Thankfully two people came over and helped drag the stroller up the very small hill - so I wouldn't slide into a popular intersection.
However, the other options are buses and taxis. Taxis are ridiculously expensive - so I was taking the bus pretty frequently!
Especially if I only needed something quickly downtown, I could pay 3,10� and use the same slip to get back on the bus home within the hour.
However, with all the stops we make - it takes 10 minutes to get downtown and 10 minutes back. So in reality, I have 40 minutes at most to get whatever it is I need and to hop on the bus back.
But I am one of those people who hates carrying cash around. There's no fear of pick pocketing or anything like that in Jyv�skyl�!! It's just because then I have to dig around for the exact or similar change to give the bus driver, hope I don't drop it...and if I run out of change - then I have to withdraw 20� from the bank machine and carry more change after.
The less cash I carry - the better I feel honestly.
So I decided to get - a bus pass.
In Nova Scotia (this may not apply to all of Canada as each province has it's own public transportation system), there are bus tickets that do not expire and can be used once and you can request a single transfer.
And
their bus passes are monthly (students, adult and seniors/children) and you just sign your name on them. No electronic system...
I recall in Hong Kong (or possibly China - I can't remember), their transportation passes were multi-functional. You reload them at the corner stores and can use them as debit cards to pay for lunch at certain places too!
There are different kinds of bus passes depending on how much you travel.
There is one that can be used as much as you want for a whole month, as much as you want for a whole year, ones for students and then there's the one like I have.
The blue one is for 40 or 10 trips. You cannot put "5" trips...
At first I filled it for 10 trips - thinking this would motivate me to not use the bus as much and encourage me to walk more.
I ended up actually needing it quite a bit because I often was running behind for things (appointments and meetings etc.) or having to quickly pick stuff up downtown...and once again - not wanting to use cash.
I can't quite remember, but I believe I paid 3� for the card itself (it's electronic by the way - so keep the card in its sleeve!) and the 10 trips was 27� (I think!)....so it was 30� I believe in total!
Well, once that was zapped and as we kept getting snow and rain mixed together (aka lots of ice and slush) - I decided to keep the kids at home more but to help give Tim some peace and quiet to do work - I'll take the kids out and downtown....
Well, I better slap on 40 trips onto my card.
That costs 64�. Which may seem like a lot at first - definitely! - however, the cost per trip is now down to 1,60�. Even if I do use the card twice and with more than an hour in between, I still save 10 Euro cents!
Where do I get a Jyv�skyl�n bus pass?!
Easy peasy. Go to Sokos downtown and go up to the first floor near the back where there's a lottery booth and S-Pankki assistance (near the escalators). Press the button for the "other services" like Western Union Transfers or bus passes....and someone will be able to assist you there.
You DO NOT require ID to get a bus pass or any paper work.
So how do you use a bus pass here?
It's simple! Keep the card in it's sleeve because the white sleeve holds the electronic piece needed to deduct your trips from your pass.
When you get on the front of the bus, there's a black square pad, with a lit up blue circle and a little digital screen there.
If the circle is lit up in blue, then you can press your pass on it (doesn't matter which side is facing the electronic pad) and it will beep once and turn green. You'll be able to see the date and time it removed a trip - no receipt will be printed, so try to remember the time if you plan on using another trip in less than an hour! and how many trips you have left. It's pretty quick - so look quickly!
If it beeps several times and the circle turns red - it means you're out of trips. You'll either have to reload it on the bus or pay in cash.
And if you're using the bus pass twice in less than an hour - either to transfer to another bus or to go back the way you came...it'll beep in green again and you'll see "1/1". So you used one "whole trip" with two applications of your bus pass to the electronic pad.
It's the equivalent of paying in cash, then using your slip to get on the bus again in other words.
You can put your pass right on the electronic pad, or slip it in your wallet (as long as it's not too thick) and near the outer edge of your wallet - the electronic pad should be able to read it....or in your mitten! I have a coin purse for a wallet - so it's fairly thin and I just press my "wallet" onto the pad and BEEP!
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