Road traffic into the city flows along several radial motorways and three main ring roads. All in all, the road network in the Helsinki region functions quite well, even in winter. However, the inner city is located on a narrow, arrowhead-shaped peninsula and the efficient public transport system there gets people to their destinations faster than they could manage with their own cars. Parking The parking places in the inner city are at the sides of streets or in parking lots, often underground. There is usually a fee for the streetside spaces during working hours on weekdays.
Separate arrangements apply for residents.
A fee is charged for parking in shopping streets also on Saturdays. A fee is payable in car parks at all times. Parking meters take ordinary coins or parking cards, which can be purchased in advance from R-kioski retail kiosks and service stations. Scratch the card to reveal the year, date, weekday, month, hour and minute at which you park the car and leave the card where it can be seen, for example inside the windscreen on the pavement side. Traffic wardens come by frequently, especially in the very centre.