If you are coming to Finland with your own car and you want to use the special parking tag for disabled persons, you should have an international license for disabled-parking. Any national license does not give the rights to special parking. However you can apply for an international disabled parking license also in any finnish police station. The parking possibilities in Finland are in general very good. The city centre of Helsinki may be a litlle crowded.
Buses
The needs of disabled persons have been taken in account in the local traffic in cities. There are over 300 buses with low floor in Finland and a half of them are in the Helsinki region. Nowadays many cities have so called Service Lines using minibuses with low floor, specially for disabled and older people; others can use these too.
More information of these Sampo- Bussi -companies can be obtained from www.linja-autoliitto.fi or from www.korsisaari.fi. Information of the local traffic in a city can be obtained from the Traffic Information Service or from the bus stations.
Several bus charter companies in different parts of the country have buses suitable for wheelchair users, the best even with toilets for disabled and hostesses to assist when You are entering or leaving the bus. Some enterprises are specialised for groups of disabled passengers. More information can be obtained from: The Union of Bus Traffic (Linja-autoliitto) tel 358-(0)9-682 701, fax 09-692 2787 email: firstname.surename@lal.fi www.linja-autoliitto.fi
Kamusen Liikenne www.kamusenliikenne.fi
CAPITAL REGION
In the Capital Region timetable and route information for all buses, trams and metro is available in the service phone tel 358-0100 111 from Monday to Friday 7.00 AM-19.00 PM, Saturday and Sunday 9.00 AM-17.00 PM. This number is chargeable. In other times there is an automaton giving information about timetables.
In the City of Helsinki are the low floor buses signed with a special colour in the timetables. In the intercity traffic (YTV) in the capital area the low floor buses are signed with the letter M. All new buses in Helsinki have low floors.
A tram with low floor can be entered with a wheelchair if the stop has a platform. In a couple of years all trams and buses in Helsinki will be accessible. In the buses there are both outside and inside buttons, which have a picture of a baby carriage. It is useful to use this button always when you move slow in the doors.
The Metro stations does not have any thresholds. The lifts are accessible and the platforms are on the same level with the trains. For visually disabled people there are timetables in braille writing. Journey Planner YTV door-to-door Journey Planner gives You advice on the best public transport connections to your destination within the Helsinki City region! http://aikataulut.ytv.fi/reittiopas/en
Tourist tickets in the capital area
Tourist tickets valuable for 3 or 5 days are practical for travellers who are sightseeing in the capital area.In buses and local trains only one day paper tickets are sold. 3 or 5 days tickets is available from multi-ticket machines.Paper tickets are valid fro the moment of purchase.Tourist tickets are also available as disposable contact cards.These cards becomes valid when inserting the card into the card reader at he beginning of the first trip.
Prepaid cards are sold at YTV and Helsinki City Transport service points, Kamppi Travel Centre, Stockmann Department Store and main R-kiosks. More information about tickets and fares from YTV pages: http://www.ytv.fi/ENG/transport/tickets_and_fares/frontpage.htm
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