^You very good rally english there.
I agree that 2,5€ is good if you are travelling from, as an example, Vuosaari to the city centre, but 2,5€ to go only one stop is just plain crazy. The system must surely encourage a lot of people to try their luck and not pay.
you don’t want to know what it costs to travel one stop but over the city border 
^^^^^paras
vittu
E: deleted because other people covered it all already!
TBH, if I only travel 1 or max 2 stops, I’m rather likely not to pay. Usually I don’t do such short distances by public transport, though, but will walk or cycle instead to save the money. With longer distances, I find it only fair to pay for the service I’m using. After all, public transport in Helsinki is far from expensive, especially if you’re entitled to the student discount.
During the winter months (1–3 months per year) I usually purchase a monthly ticket, which I think is a good bargain when I make about five round trips a week, i.e. 10 trips per week.
thefootdown - 23:26, 25.8.2014 » I agree that 2,5€ is good if you are travelling from, as an example, Vuosaari to the city centre, but 2,5€ to go only one stop is just plain crazy. The system must surely encourage a lot of people to try their luck and not pay.If you only have one stop to ride, you are one lazy motherfucker anyway if you use metro. Even elderly rides bikes in winter ;)
Just for comparison, the last time I used The Tube about seven years ago a single-journey ticket for zones I-II cost £4, and that was for The Tube only (and maybe some overground lines?). Then again, you could buy a day-ticket for £5, if I remember correctly. I would guess the prices have gone up there as well since then.
With the 2,50€ ticket in Helsinki you can use the metro, trams, buses, commuter trains and the ferry to Suomenlinna, within one hour (I think it used to be valid for longer?) after buying the ticket. And like others have already mentioned, it’s cheaper if have the Travel Card or whatever it’s called in English.
I used to go without paying when I was younger and didn’t have money but nowadays I only go without paying if I’m in a hurry, don’t have any value/money on my Travel Card AND don’t have time to buy a ticket. Actually, even then you can buy a ticket with your phone… Fortunately I’m very rarely in that kind of a hurry and I don’t use public transportation regularly, but when I do, I will gladly pay the fare. I think it’s important to have the option of well functioning public transportation system.
Travel is expensive everywhere, I was just wondering what everyone does because there aren’t any barriers. Travelling on the tube in London is expensive but without a ticket you can’t get on so you HAVE to buy a ticket. Finland is very different to the UK, I really am just interested in what people do, I’m not saying “I’m going to move to your country and exploit your Metro system (and steal one of your women and, hopefully, one of your jobs).
As for travelling the shorter distances obviously I will be riding, we’ll be living in Vuosaari which is about 10 miles from the centre and I’ll only be using the Metro if I have to. The amount of people riding bikes there, including both the very young and very old really was great to see, just one of the many reasons why I can’t wait to pack up all my stuff and get the hell out of this crappy country next week.
Well, you can basically choose between paying the fare or not paying it. There’s a chance you’ll get a fine of 80€ but the risk is rather low if you’re only doing it occasionally. However, If you’re planning to use the metro on a daily basis, I would suggest just buying the ticket. The “Smurfs” as we call ticket inspectors, patrol mostly around regular working hours, I’d say from 7 till 17.00. You’re less likely to get caught during evening and night in my experience.
Welcome to the forums, here you can find information about all alleycat races, keskarit (a get-together on every wednesday which often, if not always, includes drinking beer but also riding around, playing bike polo, trick track and basically anything related to bikes and cycling, depending on the season. Everyone is welcome.) and other happenings if that interests you. Here’s a thread for tourists in English 
https://www.yksivaihde.net/old/4597
Feel free to ask anything, someone will always answer.
Facebook group where people warn each other if they see ticket inspectors.
My commute is now 18km, extending beyond city limits. Because of reasons, I now have bought the regional one month period ticket, allowing me to travel around as much as I like in helsinki, espoo and god forbid, vantaa.
While I consider cycling my main means of transport, living east, working west and having other things to do than sit on a bike and brag/complain about it later online has certainly made me respect the freedom one month pass gives you.
So, to live in Helsinki is to combine necessary and available methods of transportation for best results.
Even if you were not planning on using it much, I think the seasonal travel card is an essential part of being a helsinkiloid and offers unbeatable value and I highly recommend getting one.
you can ride the metro or tram or train without a ticket and just act a stupid tourist if get caught, just have some cash at hand and try to buy the ticket from the ticket control if they come asking for it.
an aussie mate did this quite succesfully for long time after moving here. this will work better in the local trains than in metro, though.
If you only use public transport occasionally, it might also be good idea to charge some “value” (money) on your travel card as you only pay 1,95€/ticket when paying with travel card.
While I fully support sticking it to the man, no gods no masters, even when I didn’t have to commute that far and could’ve used different sneaky methods to avoid payment, it all boiled down to the times when I have simply forgotten to pay for another season and get fined 80 euros.
Every fucking time that happens I’m so furious that I have decided to never get fined again, and I buy the season pass simply out of spite even if I know I might not necessarily need it.
Speaking of PT, check out route planner, probably one of the best online services globally. You can even use it for cycling routes.
You could try dressing like a smurf yourself. I’m sure the ticket inspector uniforms are available from some local clothing company.
Pros: Your ticket will be never checked.
Cons: You might get attacked by a ticketless sociopath.
Travel a month with ticket to learn where those blue mf’s move and ambush people. After that you’re good to go.
(never take the tram 3 from kallio towards city center after 8pm on friday evening, never leave the metro in Kaisaniemi and so on)
Also it could be a good idea to start doing some running on your freetime. And oh yeah… The security guys can be pretty aggressive, so learn some martial arts too. And learn to enjoy pepper spray.
Happy travelling
The smurfs are crafty creatures. At least in trams they’ve done undercover ops and the like. They know exactly when you haven’t bought the ticket and will strike without mercy. When I lived in Helsinki, I bought the monthly ticket most of the time. Nowdays, when I come South I usually have my bike with me and don’t use the public transportation too much. Man up, pay for the service you use, or ride.
Because of the taxes we pay I think public transportation should be subsidized more heavily. Current student pricing for all (and half that for students) would be a good start. I just got back from Hong Kong where even a moderate MTR trip costs one euro, two euros gets you 2 km in a taxi and a trip on a small bus (16 persons) is ten cents. As a downside bicycles aren’t allowed on the MTR even outside rush hours.
I’ve been fined once or twice in my life, and have used trams and the metro without a ticket more than enough to make up for it. When I was younger I’d do it without thinking too much. These days I buy the ticket simply for the peace of mind, and because I use public transportation so rarely that it would take a long time to make up for money lost to a fine.
Factoid of the day: the inspection fees don’t cover the cost of having ticket inspectors.