Youth in the Puget Sound area can get their first ORCA card for free beginning June 1.
ORCA cards (which stands for One Regional Card for All) are a public transit pass accepted by Community Transit, Everett Transit, King County Metro, Kitsap Transit, Pierce Transit, Sound Transit, and Washington State Ferries, as well as on the Seattle Monorail and Seattle Streetcar.
Free ORCA cards will be available for youth ages 6-18 to provide a more accessible way to travel to various destinations across the region on participating agencies’ buses, trains and ferries. The youth cards provide young riders with reduced fares on some agency services.
“By eliminating the fee for getting an ORCA card, we hope even more young riders will take advantage of all the services our regional transit agencies offer,” said Mary Cummings, Sound Transit chief administrative officer and interim chair of the ORCA Joint Board.
Youth ORCA users can use their card’s E-purse to load value on the card for one trip at a time or add a pass for unlimited rides for a whole month. Replacing a lost or stolen card will cost the user $5.
Waiving the previous $5 fee for a blank ORCA youth card makes permanent a promotion in place since December 2020. Seniors and disabled commuters who quality for an ORCA Regional Reduced Fare Permit (RRFP) and low-income commuters have received free ORCA cards since 2018.
The RRFP program, youth and ORCA LIFT card for income-eligible riders, provide a savings of 45 percent or more on transit fares.
To get a new youth ORCA card, users can visit King County Metro’s Reduced Fare Portal at kingcounty.gov/reducedfare, visit an ORCA customer service office, or mail in the ORCA Card order form (proof of age is required).
For more information about free ORCA youth cards, visit orcacard.com or reducedfare.kingcounty.gov.
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