ORCA Card
The ORCA
card offers the convenience of one-stop shopping for your Puget
Sound-area public transportation needs. Whether you commute by ferry,
train, rail or bus – or any combination of transportation
modes – the ORCA card has you covered. That's because ORCA
is a collaborative regional fare system involving seven Western
Washington public transportation agencies – Community
Transit, Everett
Transit, King
County Metro Transit, Kitsap
Transit, Pierce
Transit, Sound
Transit and Washington
State Ferries. ORCA stands for One Regional Card for All, and
is designed to make traveling easier and more convenient.
The ORCA card is a plastic smart card containing a microprocessor.
ORCA cards come equipped with an "E-purse" function that
allows a rider to preload fare value onto the card, or customers
can purchase a pass product – such as the monthly PugetPass
– and load it onto their ORCA card.
More details about the ORCA card and how to use it are at OrcaCard.com.
Be sure to check out the Customer
Support section at that website. Here are a few basic questions
and answers:
Q: Where can I get an ORCA card in King County?
A: You can get an ORCA card and a full range of
pass products at Metro’s sales office on the mezzanine level
of Westlake Tunnel Station and at its headquarters in the King Street
Center building at the corner of 201 S. Jackson St. in Seattle.
There are also four retailers in King County who are selling ORCA
products: Saar’s Market in Burien and the Rainier Valley in
Seattle; the Thriftway on Vashon Island; and the Bartell’s
in downtown Seattle at Third Avenue and Union.
*TIP: Customers can avoid long lines at customer service offices
by purchasing online or at a Sound Transit ticket vending machine.
Standard adult ORCA cards can be purchased from any ticket machine
at Central Link light rail stations or Sounder commuter rail stations.
Central Link is open seven days a week, so riders can pick up an
ORCA card at these locations 24/7.
ORCA cards are also available online, by mail, or phone at 1-888-988-6722.
Q: Is there a cost to using the ORCA card other than the
electronic fare I load onto it?
A: ORCA cards will be available with no card fee
through January. Starting Feb. 1, a standard adult or youth ORCA
card will cost $5. This is a one-time fee to obtain a card that
is expected to last 3 to 5 years under normal use. There is no fee
for loading the fare on the card.
Q: Once I have an ORCA card, how do I use it?
A: Passengers simply "tap" their ORCA
card on a card reader on board buses or at train, light rail and
ferry stations, and enjoy their ride. With each trip, the correct
fare, including any transfer value, is automatically deducted. Gone
are the days of rummaging for correct change and lost paper transfers.
Q: Which transportation systems can it be used on?
A: The seven ORCA partners are Community Transit,
Everett Transit, King County Metro Transit, Kitsap Transit, Pierce
Transit, Sound Transit and Washington State Ferries. Together, the
agencies serve more than half of Washington’s population in
four counties and together carry about 500,000 riders each weekday.
Q: Do I have to use an ORCA card to ride a bus, train or
ferry on these seven systems?
A: No, but there are several advantages for you.
Transit passes throughout the region are switching to ORCA. If you
have a pass, you can keep using it until it expires, but when it’s
time to get a new one, you’ll need to get an ORCA card and
load it up with that new pass.
Also, starting Jan. 1, 2010 paper transfers will be replaced with
electronic transfers on ORCA cards for trips that involve transferring
between agencies.
• King County Metro and Pierce Transit will continue using
paper transfers. That means riders can still use paper to transfer
Metro bus-to-Metro bus only or PT-to-PT only.
• Community Transit and Sound Transit will switch to all-electronic
transfers.
• Everett Transit and Kitsap Transit have already phased
out paper transfers on their systems
• Policies remain unchanged for Washington State Ferries,
with no transfer credits to or from WSF boats to other agencies.
Q: Can I still use cash on the buses, trains and ferries?
A: Yes. Cash will continue to be accepted by all
seven of the ORCA partner agencies, but beginning Jan. 1, riders
using cash instead of an ORCA card to transfer between different
agencies’ systems will pay the full fare for each leg of their
ride.
Q: My employer provides my FlexPass. When can I get an
ORCA card?
A: If you currently have a FlexPass or PugetPass
that was provided to you by your employer, it will be transitioned
to an ORCA card as part of the annual contract renewal process for
your employer or institution. Your employer will have more information
designed specifically for you, as the rollout of ORCA continues.
In the meantime, your current, unexpired pass will still be accepted
by participating agencies.
Q: I added value to my ORCA account online, but my card
is not working. Why?
A: If you revalue your card – by phone or
online – your transaction must still be uploaded or “written”
onto the computer chip embedded in your card. This is done by connecting
the chip to the ORCA computer system by tapping the card on a card
reader.
Step 1: After adding value online or by phone, wait 24 hours before
using the card. It takes approximately 24 hours for your transaction
data to be transmitted to card readers on buses and at train stations
and ferry terminals, which in turn will “write” the
new information to your card’s computer chip.
Step 2: Tap your card to an ORCA card reader on the bus, train
or ferry after 24 hours. Once your transaction history is transmitted
to card readers throughout the region, the ORCA computer system
can upload that transaction data to your card’s computer chip.
Once the chip in your ORCA card has the latest account information,
you are ready to ride with ORCA.
*TIP: If you purchase or revalue your card by phone or online,
you must tap your card to a card reader within 30 days. The same
card readers that “write” your transaction history onto
your card’s computer chip can only store that history for
30 days. The money is not lost or removed from the account, but
the transaction is put in pending or dormant status. Active status
is easily restored and the transaction history sent once again to
card readers with a call to Customer Service at 1-888-988-6722.
Q: Is my ORCA information secure?
A: Personal information is not stored on the ORCA
cards.
Information including a person’s name, address and credit
card number is stored separately from data about the card’s
use and access to that personal information is severely limited.
A separate, confidential, secure database holds ORCA card information,
including current value and usage history. This database is linked
to the card readers so when an ORCA card is tapped on any card reader,
it can check the card’s value and validate it for fare payment.
Q: Can my employer access data from my personal card if
I spend my own money?
A: No. Employers do not have access to any data
for a card that they have not issued. If you get a personal ORCA
card, you have the option to register it yourself, or you may use
it anonymously, if you prefer. Even if you use an employer provided
voucher to load your personal ORCA card, information regarding how
and where you tap your card will not be provided to your employer.
Q: I don’t want my data collected by ORCA. What can
I do?
A: Customers have many choices regarding the level
of anonymity they wish to have when using the ORCA system.
• Talk to your employer: If you received your ORCA card from
your employer, you can contact your employer’s transportation
representative to discuss concerns you may have regarding the recent
news stories about ORCA card privacy and learn more about your employer’s
privacy policies.
• Use a personal card: By using a personal ORCA card your
employer has no access to any data collected.
• Use an unregistered personal card: While you can register
your ORCA card to protect the value if it is lost or stolen, you
also have the option not to register. This allows a customer to
use the card anonymously, but there's no protection if the card
is lost or stolen.
• Pay cash: Customers can continue to use cash on all transit
rides. After Jan. 1, cash customers will pay for each individual
transit trip, except for Metro-to-Metro and PT-to-PT transfers.
Q: Why does the ORCA program collect my trip data?
A: The smart card technology used by ORCA collects
data that is necessary for calculating the correct fare and collecting
and distributing that fare revenue accurately. These “backend”
functions allow transit agencies to operate more efficiently.
ORCA cards cannot do real-time tracking of your movements. ORCA
cards only collect trip data that is associated with card taps.
ORCA partner agencies do not track individual card movements. Agencies
use aggregate data for revenue collection and distribution, and
to track regional travel patterns to assist with service design.
Individual data is used by agencies to assist with customer service
inquiries, such as loss/theft or refund requests.
If you have questions about getting your ORCA Card started, please
contact melissa@bellevuedowntown.org
or 425.990.3098.
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