Norjan valtakunnallinen lippu- ja maksujärjestelmä

The development of a nationwide ticketing system and a schedule and route guide is
included in Finland’s current Government Programme. This survey focuses on the
adoption process and the technical solutions relating to Norway’s interoperable
ticketing system. The goal is to clarify to what extent the technical solutions used in
Norway could be utilised in building the Finnish system, how the system’s
background organisation is set up and what, based on Norwegian experience, should
be taken into account when adopting an interoperable ticketing system.



It is possible to borrow the specifications for Finnish travel cards and ticket product
types from Norway’s national ticketing system. Other Norwegian specification
segments could be used to support the planning of corresponding functions for
Finland. The Norwegian national system is designed to combine regional background
systems rather than replace them, which does not correspond to Finland’s immediate
needs for regional authorities’ joint background system. A solution combining several
systems, such as in Norway, could, however, also be necessary for Finland in the
future in order to achieve nationwide interoperability. An interoperability
organisation in accordance with the Norwegian model is not suitable as such to
Finnish conditions. This is because the Norwegian IO-organisation, in principle, only
serves public organisations.



Norway’s national specification does not include an interface between the back-
ground system and field devices. In Finland this interface specification is necessary
for tendering the different parts of the system as well as for updating the existing field
devices to the new system. The interoperable ticketing system with specifications
should be built so that genuine competition between different suppliers is ensured
and the role of an individual supplier in the system is not too strong and binding.
Increasing information system know-how among public transport actors is necessary.
Future technologies should be taken into account in the design process.



Creating an interoperable nationwide ticketing system requires mutual understanding
between public transport authorities and central government about the goals, the
process, the requirements for the system and its benefits. The customer focus should
not be omitted. Building a system, even a complicated one, is useful, if it leads to easy
and simple usability for the customer.