The Honor System
In Helsinki, you get on a subway or tram without showing any proof of payment. Every once in a while there will be a group of people who roam through and check that you have prepurchased a ticket or have a travel card, but most of the time it is the honor system. Not having a valid ticket results in a 66 euro fine.
I noticed such systems in other subways in Europe (e.g., Munich, Vienna) this year.
In contrast, London, Washington DC, Boston, and New York, for example, require prepaid tickets to pass through the turnstiles to enter the subway platform.
What is it about the difference between Britain and the US and some European countries?
posted by David Schultz @ 5:06 PM
2 comments
2 Comments:
Portland, Oregon has the same system as Helsinki for its lightrail system, so I wonder if the cultural difference is one of Europe vs. US, or something else: Portland is smaller than NYC or SC, but also has a progressive ethos.
What about size of city ? They planned gates and turnstiles for Sörnäinen station, but then you need staff to solve problems, and that would be extremely expensive compared to passenger amounts. London is 14 times size of Helsinki, and another lot in London underground consists of tourists.
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