How to pay on Kuopio region Public Transport’s Vilkku buses
Paying on the Vilkku buses of Kuopio region Public Transport is simple. You can buy a single ticket by using contactless payment of your your bank card or mobile wallet. The Ticketing system calculating the best value and daily capping. You can buy a single ticket or a day ticket with cash or with your mobile phone. Also Waltti travel card is easy to use and the most inexpensive way to travel.
Fares are determined by zones. There are special tickets for students and senior citizens. Children under 7 years always travel free.
Single ticket
If you travel by bus only sporadically we recommend that you buy a single ticket from the bus driver with cash.
If you do not want to carry coins, another easy way to buy a single ticket is to download Vilkku or Waltti mobile ticket applications from the app store on your smartphone. Apps are free of charge and easy to use. The mobile ticket must be purchased in advance. The qr code of the ticket is validated when boarding or if not possible then the ticket is presented to the driver. Besides the QR code, the ticket shows the remaining validity time. Remember to ensure that your phone does not run out of charge during your journey.
Read more about Vilkku mobile ticket
Day ticket
Are you a visitor to the Kuopio region or do you need public transport only for a short time for some other reason? In that case a day ticket may be your best choice. A day ticket with validity of 1 – 14 days enables you to travel by bus without restriction within all zones.
Day tickets can be bought at Kuopio’s service point at the city council building. Service charge is added to tickets bought at the service point. You may also buy a ticket using Vilkku mobile ticket application. The mobile ticket is valid for a maximum of 3 days.
Read more about Vilkku mobile ticket
Waltti travel card
If you travel by bus regularly, Waltti travel card is the cheapest and easiest way to pay. Waltti travel card can be used in two ways: you can purchase value or season on your Waltti card. Value ticket is used for occasional trips and season ticket allows you to travel as often as you wish within the selected zone for 30 days. You can, of course, load both on the same card and use either the value ticket or the season ticket according to your needs.
In contrast to a personal card, a multi-user Waltti travel card can be used by, for example, any one member of the family. Travel card cannot be used to pay luggage fares.
Waltti travel card can be used in:
- Kuopio and Siilinjärvi urban routes 1 – 40.
- Rural transport routes 71 Hirvilahti, 74 Sotkanniemi and 75 Kurkimäki. Additionally, routes 81 and 82 to Vehmersalmi and Riistavesi as well as internal routes 83–88. Siilinjärvi internal routes 42–48, route 61 to Nilsiä and internal routes 62–68.
- Market-based transport on Kuopio - Nilsiä route and all routes in the direction of Kuopio–Riistavesi–Juankoski–Kaavi. Additionally, all other Kuopio-Riistavesi route buses except the ones operated by Pohjolan Matkat. Additional information is provided by the route operators.
- The transport services in Kuopio and Siilinjärvi coming under ELY centres.
- Waltti Value Ticket
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You can load any value on your card up to 500 euros and use it to pay for occasional trips. The value does not expire and can be used as long as there is any left on the card.
The travel zones you use regularly are loaded on your value card in advance. If you use your card outside the selected zones, you must inform the bus driver when you step onto the bus.
Waltti value ticket is valid in all Waltti transport regions in Finland. Please check the prices and benefits from the website of the regional public transport of your destination.
- Waltti Season Ticket
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Season ticket is the choice of a regular traveller! When a season ticket has been loaded on your Waltti travel card, you can travel as often as you wish for 30 days within the zones specified on your ticket. The season starts when the ticket is used for the first time.
- Personal Waltti Travel Card
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A personal travel card can be used by the owner of the card only. The owner can, however, use the value loaded on the card to pay for several persons who belong to the same, or younger, age group provided that he or she travels with them throughout the journey. And do not worry if you lose your card. The products loaded on it can be transferred to a new card.
If you are entitled to any of the special tickets that are loaded on Waltti travel card you need to have a personal Waltti travel card.
- Multi-user Waltti Travel Card
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A multi-user travel card can be used by several people belonging to the same age group. When you use the card as a value card, you can pay for the journey of several people. A season card can only be used by one person at a time. Please take care of your card, as it is equal to cash. If you lose your card, the value cannot be recovered and returned to you.
- How to get Waltti Travel Card
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Waltti webshop
You can easily order and load a personal Waltti travel card from the webshop without a service charge using your online banking credentials and an e-mail address. The card will be sent to you by post within 7 – 14 days from the order. In the future, you can use your card within two hours from the time you have loaded it from the webshop.
Service and ticket sales points
You can buy a personal or multi-user travel card from the service and ticket sales points. A service charge that varies between the sales points is added to the purchase price.
Special tickets
Students and senior citizens, among others, travel on Vilkku buses at a reduced price. There is also a special ticket for days when Kalpa hockey team plays at home.
- Seniors
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Are you 65 or over? In that case you are entitled to a personal value card that can be used for travelling at a reduced price every day at 9 am – 2 pm. At other times you pay a normal value ticket fare.
Senior tickets can be loaded on personal Waltti travel cards only.
- Students
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Full-time students and foreign exhange and degree students are entitled to a personal season or value ticket at a reduced rate.
You can get a student ticket if
- You are a full-time student
- Studies leads to a profession or a degree
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The academic year is at least 8 months long
Not entitled to student discount
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Those studying for a doctorate or licentiate degree at the university
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Students participating in apprenticeship training, labour policy education, folk high school or training courses or to those studying abroad.
How to buy a student ticket
You must buy your first ticket at a service or ticket sales point. You need a certificate of studies not older than three months or a student card with a valid academic year sticker on it. After that you can load the student ticket on your card online and at the top-up points during the period of validity of the card.
Student discount is granted for a maximum of one year at a time and remains valid until end of September the following year.
See more information about student tickets here.
School travel card supported by Kela
Kela’s school transport subsidy provides compensation for the daily cost of travelling to and from school.
You are eligible for school transport subsidy if
Your travel distance to school is at least 10 kilometres one way. The travel distance is the shortest trip by car between home and school. If your monthly transport costs are less than 38 euros, you are not eligible for subsidy.
You study in an educational institution approved by Kela
Application for school transport subsidy and purchase of ticket
The subsidy is applied from Kela. Fill in Kela’s school transport subsidy application and forward it to your school office. At the same time, a purchase voucher is filled and confirmed by your educational institution.
The first ticket is purchased from a ticket sales point against the purchase voucher. Remember to take your identity document with you! In the future, you can load the card from the Waltti webshop, at Kuopio’s ticket sales and top-up points and on Kuopio buses. If you load your ticket from the webshop, you do not have to pay a service charge.
- Employer-subsidized commuter ticket
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Employer-subsidized commuter ticket is a benefit offered to employees by employer. It is a season ticket or value loaded on a personal Waltti travel card. The ticket is intended mainly for journeys between work and home but it can be also used for leisure journeys. The ticket can be paid for example by Eazybreak-, ePassi- or Smartum solutions. Payment methods vary between the service points. Council Building and Sokos ticket sales points accept ePassi, the ticket sales and top-up service points of R-kioski accept e-Passi, Smartum and Eazybreak.
The first step towards obtaining an employer-subsidized commuter ticket is to ask your employer about the possibility to implement the employer-subsidized commuter ticket scheme in your work place.
The employer can pay the employer-subsidized commuter ticket in full or in part. It is a tax-free fringe benefit for the employees provided that the value of the benefit does not exceed 300 euros and the tax-free part does not incur non-wage labour costs for the employer.
Read more from Tax Administration’s page - KalPa's Home Game Ticket
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You can buy an event ticket for the home games of KalPa at a child-fare ticket price from the mobile shop for zones AB for each of the days when KalPa plays at home. Besides the mobile ticket, you must be able to present a ticket to the day’s game or a KalPa season card when you step onto the bus.
The ticket fare is 1,50€.
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Set of Multi-journey Tickets
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The multi-journey tickets are intended mainly for associations, public offices, institutions and companies. The tickets are ordered in advance. They can be either sent by post or picked up from the service points after three working days from the order at the earliest. Multi-journey tickets are not issued in July.
The paper multi-journey tickets are sold in sets of 10 tickets. The fare within zone AB is 2,70 €/ticket. A service charge of 1,50 € and real postal expenses, if incurred, are added to the price of the order.
Multi-journey ticket order form. - Sales points of Special Tickets
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Kuopio City Council customer service, Suokatu 42, Kuopio (more information)