Between 5,000 - 7,000 passengers will test the new ticket model from next autumn.New transport links, including the upcoming Laajasalo tram connection, are expected to bring more passengers to HSL. Image: Riikka Kurki / YleYle News11:19Helsinki Regional Transport (HSL) will trial an alternative to its zone-based ticket system.Passengers would pay based on travel distance rather than zones. The six-month pilot, due to begin next autumn, will involve around 5,000–7,000 users.Currently, HSL passengers must buy a ticket that covers at least two zones, even for short journeys that do not cross a zone boundary.In the trial, fares would instead be calculated according to "as-the-crow-flies", that is, the straightest distance."You don't buy a ticket in advance, but you start and end the journey," explained HSL Head of Unit, Rauno Särkkäaho.Users would check in and out via the HSL app, which would then calculate the fare based on the distance travelled.Särkkäaho said the aim is to assess how distance-based pricing affects customer experience, public transport demand and ticket revenue.Details such as pricing levels and how fares will be displayed to users are still being finalised.Distance-based pricing is already used in cities including London, and could prove simpler for occasional users and tourists, who currently need to know which zones their destination falls within."Let's see how the ease affects demand. If we get more demand, it will reduce the pressure to increase prices in the future," Särkkäaho said.Ticket prices are always under pressureTicket pricing remains a sensitive issue for HSL. Last year, fare revenue covered just over 40 percent of operating costs, with member municipalities paying most of the remainder.HSL has faced growing cost pressures in recent years, driven partly by rising operating expenses and infrastructure fees paid to municipalities for the use of metro lines, tram networks and stations.HSL board chair Mirita Saxberg (NCP), meanwhile, told Yle that attracting more passengers could help reduce pressure on both ticket prices and municipal funding.