Ticket sales, Rejsekort with check-in/out, zoning and fare system, concessionary and school cards and inspection fill a large part of the working day in public transport. Here is the system — with the important note that specific fares and rules are set by each transit company.
Introduction
For a city and coach bus driver, ticketing is one of the most frequent tasks of the day. You sell tickets, help with Rejsekort, answer questions about zones and fares and occasionally handle a dispute over a missing ticket. The system is similar across the country, but the specific prices, zones and regulations are set by each individual traffic operator — so this article explains the principles, not fixed amounts.
Zones and rates — the basic principle
The price of a journey in public transport typically depends on how far you travel — measured in zones, not in kilometres. The country is divided into fare zones, and the price rises with the number of zones the journey touches. A short trip within one or two zones is cheap; a trip across many zones costs more. On top of the number of zones lies a time window: a ticket as a rule is valid for a certain period, during which you can freely change between bus, train and light rail within the paid zones.
- 01Price is determined by number of zones affected, not the precise distance.
- 02A ticket typically applies within a time window with free transfers within the paid zones.
- 03There's usually a minimum price (e.g. 2 zones) even for very short trips.
- 04The exact zone boundaries and prices are set by the local company.
Rejsekort — check in and check out
Rejsekort is the electronic payment system that binds public transport together across operators. The core is the check-in/out principle: the passenger checks IN when boarding by holding the card to a card reader and checks OUT when alighting. The system takes payment first at check-out when it knows how many zones the journey actually touched. If the passenger forgets to check out a higher amount is usually charged because the system cannot see where the journey ended.
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