Bus Cards in Jyväskylä

In Jyväskylä, you can pay 3,30€ (as of August 2014) for a one trip fare.  You'll be given change back and a slip that has the time stamped on it.
You can use that slip on another bus (0-9km) within 1 hour from the time stamped on it.

When I first moved here it cost 2,60€ or something awkward like that and steadily increased by about ten cents every 6-12 months.
I started getting tired of remembering to carry cash with me and it was adding up.

So I bought a bus card and the blue one gives you the option of 10 or 40 trips.  You can share it with another person and there might be a student discount as well.
But when winter came, I started using the bus more to avoid slipping on ice or having to walk home in the freezing cold with a baby...
I then looked at the red card - which has a 30 days un-limited usage and works out to be so much cheaper, as I was re-loading the blue card once or twice a month! Eeek!
The only thing is that you cannot share this red bus card!! 
That's because when you purchase a red one, they require identification (also proof if you're a student) so they can list your birth date on it.

How do I know?  Because mine was confiscated once when my husband had to drop off some library books and the driver kept the card and took it to the headquarters.
The headquarters were in the middle of nowhere and it was -35*C that day...so I suppose it was karma biting me on the frozen nose.

When you press the red bus card on the scanner, it'll display MIES or NAINEN (man or woman) and the date you can use the card last.
When the card is close to needing to be reloaded (unless you pay the one year) - the lights go from green to orange/yellow.  If it doesn't work - it'll light up red and make a horrible beeping sound.
You can reload your bus card at Sokos (1st floor at the lotto booth) or with the driver in cash, credit card but I don't think a bank card works (I could be wrong!).

When you press a blue card on the scanner, it shows you how many trips you have left and also the date.
If you're paying for someone else, it'll show the date as well and " 1/1" (same as if you use your card twice within the hour).

Green cards are for students only - as you may have noticed, there aren't official school buses here.  I heard from a Finnish friend that they do exist in the country side sometimes.

The handy thing about the bus cards as well, is that they include a reflective holder and you can keep your bus card in your mitten in the winter or in your wallet and press it on the electronic pad (if your wallet isn't too thick!).
Or you can just press the card itself without the holder.
Also, you're not charged extra if you take the bus late at night, where if you pay by cash - you get charged nearly double for a single fare.

Here's the site to the JKL Linkki bus line.
You can find the time table PDF there too and of course the fares.
Children aged 0-6 years old go for free with a parent/guardian/adult (2 children per 1 paying adult).
Excludes line 13M.
Veterans with proof also go free on the bus now - which I think is lovely.