Public transport in the Joensuu region will gradually introduce contactless payments in zones A and B. Contactless payment refers to the purchase of a ticket with a debit card or other payment method suitable for contactless payment.
A payment cap is attached to the contactless payment, which means a fixed price per day. Each bus trip paid during the day with a contact fee accumulates a payment ceiling for the zone selected by the customer. When there are 3-5 payment transactions, the customer reaches the payment ceiling and travels the rest of the day for free within the zone range of their choice.
With a contact fee, the trip costs as much as an adult value ticket. For example, a ticket purchased with contactless payment in Zone A costs €2.90. Tickets always include a 90-minute exchange. Several trips can be made during the same day, as a contact fee will be charged up to the maximum price per day. The daily price ceiling is €8 in Zone A and €12 in Zone A-B. Only a personal ticket can be paid for by contactless payment.
You can pay with Visa, Visa Electron, Mastercard and Eurocard. You can also use the Google Pay and Apple Pay payment apps on your mobile device if they are connected to a payment card.
The contact fee will be introduced on 7 December 2023 for all local traffic, i.e. on lines 1-13 and in Joensuu-Hammaslahti/Liperi traffic on lines 101-104.
In Joensuu-Kontiolahti traffic (on lines 201,202,204), the contact fee will be available later in December at a time to be announced separately.
There is no receipt for a trip paid with a contact fee, so it is not possible to change to Joensuu-Kontiolahti services when paying with a contact fee until the traffic in question is included in the contact fee. Correspondingly, pick-up cars and Waltti services of the ELY Centre cannot be exchanged for contactless fares if you have paid for your journey in local traffic or Joensuu-Hammaslahti/Liperi traffic contactless fares.
After the introduction of contactless payment, it is no longer possible to charge Waltti products to Waltti cards with a debit card, because new kind of card reader devices are needed for contactless payment. With cash, Waltti products can still be loaded onto the Waltti card on buses.
The use of contactless payment is especially recommended for cash payers as well as occasional bus users. In addition to the contact fee, the trip can still be paid with a Waltti travel card, mobile app or cash.
Read more about contactless payment on JOJO's website.