orca card, originally uploaded by JeanineAnderson.
Step off and get thee to a grocery store.
Sound Transit has quadrupled the number of locations where you can pick up a regional Orca card in person. Says Seattle Transit Blog:
The excuse that ORCA is hard to get is getting thinner. It’s time for Metro to remove incentives to pay cash (e.g. unequal transfer policies) and start creating incentives to use the sales infrastructure they’ve helped to create.
You can view more details here.
You can view Sound Transit’s updated map here
For many they don’t want it because they can slip around on busses all day with one crumpled transfer slip while those of us who are orca cardholders we are kept honest with their system…. reduced fare seems like the best place to start, free ride sundays? SOMETHING. Seattle is quite behind on this system, even Boston had incentives and FREE charlie cards. Let’s push, maybe they’ll respond.
::Ride On::
Word.
Maybe you should pull your head out of your judgemental little rear end and realize that not everybody rides the bus often enough to make the ORCA pass appropriate. Nah, that’s too easy.
You don’t have to fork out the money for a monthly pass to use ORCA. Load money in the “E-purse” on it and you pay per ride. You can load it online, at an ORCA vending machine in the tunnel, or at any of the locations on the map above.
Paying with ORCA instead of cash speeds up the bus for everyone. It may only save 5 seconds of your time, but if everyone on the bus did it your trip will be a few minutes shorter. Plus we’ve all seen those people who take a minute or two to fish out their wallet and bag of pennies while everyone else waits…
Im not aware there are monthly passes anymore. YEARS ago when I was a monthly rider, it used to really suck if I’d forget to get my pass early. Then I would end up paying cash every day.
To me if you ride the bus a few times a week an ORCA card makes sense the same way a Good to Go pass makes sense to folks crossing the Narrows or 520 bridges.
You can load money with an e-purse, or you can buy and load a monthly pass. You can even do both, so say you have a 1-zone monthly pass and you end up going 2 zones. The first fare comes out of your pass, with the extra $.25/$.50 coming out of your e-purse. Or say you have a non-peak pass but occasionally travel during a peak time. The extra comes out of your e-purse. You can even set your e-purse to auto-reload once you’ve used up all your money. It’s a breeze.
Apparently, it is not a popular opinion but I agree with Tom. I walk oft-times ridiculous distances because it has become so costly to ride the bus. When I have an emergency or do not feel 100%, I will pay to ride the bus and use a transfer but an Orca card is prohibitively expensive for me. I don’t want anybody else to subsidize me or pay my way so, the occasional cash outlay in order to ride the bus when there is a need works for me.
Just read David’s post. I always have my fare ready but this option would be viable for me so long as there is no expiration on the usage of payment for individual rides.
There is no expiration on the $$ on the card ONCE ACTIVATED. But, if you add $$ to a card remotely (by website and credit card) and don’t use the card within 2 months (as I, an occasional user, once did), the money goes into “limbo”: it’s been charged to your credit card but NOT put on your Orca card (and they don’t tell you).
Took me about a month and 4 phone calls to get the money onto the Orca Card. (and it seems impossible to find out who, if anyone, is actually in charge of Orca).
Metro Transit customer service is TERRIBLE. Nothing informs you that your newly purchased orca card must be registered separately online in order to track or disable it in the event of theft. I had to speak to three people before I was given a straight answer about that. It’s also not exactly a user-friendly registration experience.
Thank you for the heads-up and the info, Andrew.F.Taylor.
Thank you! I am also an occasional rider and my money always disappears from my epurse. Then I have to call to pull it forward? If my car has broken down, I don’t have time to call Orca. It is ridiculous! Also it takes 24-48 hours for money to show up on the epurse. Why can’t the card just work like NY’s metro cards where the money stays put and you can add more money anywhere? The Orca card is ridiculous for occasional users.
As long as they pay their fare what does it matter to you. Maybe pay more attention to yourself and quit nosing into other peoples business?
I think the point is that many are not paying their fare, but are rather passing off old transfers. I know when I have family come into town, they often pay cash. But I’ve taken to having a couple of extra Orca cards that they can go load. It’s nice to have more locations at which to purchase the cards!
These comments to me or the author?
it’s a pretty good guess they’re directed at you, EB, since you implied anybody paying cash and using a transfer slip is scamming the system.
The system isn’t perfect, but not everybody who doesn’t use it the same way you use it is scamming it.
No, he didn’t imply “anybody”. He wrote “many”. That is not all inclusive.
Thanks, ERF…I’m not here to argue. But rather, call it as I see it. Cheers.
It costs almost $10 a day for me to ride to both jobs and home. Its more expensive to ride the bus then have a cheap car with the stupid Orca card. Instead, I will ride around all day with one crumpled transfer, tape two together and save my old ones.
Without any incentive for the casual rider, I won’t be getting one any time soon… the inconvenience of having to stop for five seconds to pay cash versus two seconds to swipe the card isn’t enough for me.
It kills me during commuter hours when multiple cash-payers get on. I recognize their (your) choice, so I don’t react. You’re vastly underestimating the average time it takes to pay with cash versus swiping on average. But I’ll keep my transfer anxiety to myself (except on message boards).
I have my money ready when I board, so it is not an underestimation. I won’t say that I am the majority, though, so your experience is more than likely valid. The other day, though, there were far more people who held the bus up because their ORCA pass was either out of money or not working. After swiping it, to no avail, four or five times, the bus driver just said to go ahead and get on without paying.
and paying cash is not just for people who want to scam the paper transfer ticket system, as has been implied…
I came back from a long overseas vacation and had no idea where in my baggage my Orca card was. I did not want to buy another card just for one bus ride. I had to buy something at Starbucks to get change because there is no change machine at the end of the Link ride at Westlake when the help station is close. Sorry if my carrying bags and paying with cash ruined someone’s day.
I don’t have a problem with cash-payers per se, but it just seems like the people who choose to use cash also choose to wait until they get on the bus to fumble the cash out of their purse or wallet. Come on now, can’t you have your fare ready before the bus gets there? Cash payers really are one of the biggest choke points in keeping buses on schedule.
And to all of the people who “don’t want to be tracked” quit smoking meth. Nobody is watching you or even cares where you are taking the bus, get over it. Really, nobody cares.
I use cash as little as possible because it says “In God we Trust” on it. Every time you pay with cash, you give credence to that myth.
wait, what?
Nevermind, just keep using ORCA :-)
That is so cool! I’m going back to cash for everything!
I don’t ride the bus often enough to make it worthwhile to get an ORCA card. I pay cash. Suck it up, buddy.
Orca Card costs $5, minimum deposit on card $5: total $10.
Off-Peak Metro fare: $2.25.
This does not seem a great problem.
I’m not a regular Metro rider now, but was for almost ten years until my work moved to the ‘burbs. In a vanpool now…….
I don’t have a problem with cash payers, but it is really considerate to have the fare ready when you board, and not fumble around for it while others are waiting. That was my #1 bus pet peeve.
Other cities have a seemingly better system…
No cash. One scanner for “permanent” cards. Alternate scanner for temporary cards. One pays extra up front for the permanent card but rides at a reduced rate per trip. Temporary cards are widely available from kiosks, etc. Did I mention no cash?
I would file the cash vs. ORCA card argument under #FirstWorldProblems, but as a regular bus rider, it DOES take longer for people to pay via cash since they have to feed in the bills and drop in the coins, then get the transfer slip from the driver. It’s not a huge deal, but it does hold things up, even if they have the correct fare in hand. I also find it interesting that almost every time there is a line of people waiting to board, the cash-payers tend to rush to the front to get on first.
That said, I don’t think cash fares should be eliminated unless ticket machines are installed at all stops (not gonna happen) because what if you lose or forget your ORCA card? If the primary concern is transfer abuse, come up with a better system for handling paper transfers.
I must be a freak, because I always have my cash ready and in my hand at the bus stop, long before the bus arrives. Somehow I’m able to use cash faster than many Orca card users. I am acutely aware of wasting anyone’s time, so I plan accordingly.
I cannot afford to purchase an Orca card, so I use cash. I’d love to have an Orca card some day. And when I do, I’ll learn how to swipe it correctly in one try! I do agree that it’d be nice if Orca card users were given some sort of incentive, discount, “free-ride” day in exchange for their purchase.
Really? You “dream” of a time when you will have an extra $5 to buy an Orca card?
Okay, that was kind of snide of me. I apologize. I think a lot of people don’t understand Orca cards and that they really don’t cost much. I blame Metro/Sound Transit for not doing a better job of informing people on this. I got my Orca card when they first started the system and there was no charge during the first couple of months. It would make sense to me that they should do a big information campaign and offer free cards for a few months.
I think you are right. All these people saying “it’s not worth it for me to buy an Orca card” or “I can’t afford an Orca card” just don’t understand how they work.
You pay $5, one time, and the card is permanent. Add value as frequently as you need to, or rarely, if that works for you. Having a card with even just a few bucks left on it is like a security blanket in your wallet.
I understand how they work… still not worth it for me.
They should make it cheaper to ride using ORCA as an incentive, as they do in many cities (London being an example). Make it 25 cents more expensive to pay with cash. For those worried that the poor are very strapped now that they are paying 5 cents for grocery bags, I also advocate that ORCA cards be free of charge when you buy them loaded.
San Francisco’s MUNI Metro system (their equivalent of a light rail system), ONLY allows the use of electronic passes, which can come in the form of monthly or weekly passes, along with temp cards with a pre-loaded amount – which can be purchased at their subway stations.
BART in the Bay Area is also all-electronic.
Boston’s “T” (their subway and bus transit system) is also completely cash-less since 2006 in the form of the Charlie Card – which again, can be loaded with monthly passes or you can load in with cash (an “e-purse” system).
This is not that hard.
I like how New Jersey Transit drivers make change on some routs. Doesn’t seem to hold up anything to use cash, have the driver give you a transfer and get change too.
A whole lot of people are missing a whole lot of points.
1) There is a 1-time fee of $5 to own an ORCA card. In every other respect, using ORCA *should* cost commuters exactly the same as paying with cash. Modified “should”, because there are exceptions giving advantages to both sides, but mainly to ORCA holders. The posts about people who aspire to someday afford an ORCA card are difficult to take seriously. The only thing I can think is that either people have no idea about the e-purse option, which is a marketing issue for Seattle Metro, or what they really mean is that they can’t afford to ride the bus (ie they are using invalid paper transfers). I understand the need for that from time to time – but let’s identify the real hardship – it’s not the card, it’s the ride itself.
2) There are people who slow down bus commutes no matter how they’re paying. I’ve seen ORCA holders who don’t reach for their card until they’re in the bus, holding people up. And people who just stand in the way asking detailed questions and blocking others from entering. It’s true that someone who has only to dig out their ORCA card or transfer takes less time than someone who has to search for exact change, but in no way are cash payers the only people who hold up the bus.
3) If you ever need to ride across transit agencies, using ORCA can save you significant $$. This includes using the LINK light rail. On ORCA, you can transfer between agencies, so you end up only paying the highest fare for all legs; paying cash you need to pay for each agency separately. My niece’s school came to play sme games against 2 Tacoma schools and I had to figure out how to get down there by bus. With ORCA, a single it cost me ~$2.75. It would have cost me $4.50 each way if I had paid cash. Going to the airport costs $2.75 max with ORCA; it costs $5.25 cash.
4) The one advantage that even always-paying cash commuters have is that bus drivers will often give you a transfer for more than 2 hours because they don’t like to change the cut off all the time. With ORCA, you’ve got your 2 hours to the second and that’s that. But there were times that I occasionally got the shortened transfer too, which sucked royally.
5) there will always be people who don’t get ORCA cards, for whatever reason. Instead of stigmatizing them (and why?), the problem at hand is how to improve the boarding process for everyone.
If Metro really wants to encourage a shift from cash payments in the downtown core, where traffic is worst and time consuming bus boarding is most annoying, they need to invest in some multiple day pass options that don’t require a $5 investment (for out of towners or people who don’t normally ride the bus but may have a conference, festival or other reason to ride the bus a lot in a few days). Most major cities have 1-, 3- and/or 5-day passes that can be bought and used just like an ORCA card. Another idea might be to reinstate the free ride area during peak hours for ORCA users.
Well, maybe they should find a way to make ORCA purchases get on your account sooner than 48 hours.
It’s complicated, as the buses don’t have real-time links to the Orca database. Each bus has the complete database uploaded into its computer overnight, and only then is the updated information about your purchase available to be uploaded onto your card when you swipe it on a bus. The Orca readers at stations are real-time, I believe. That’s also why your bus trips don’t appear in your account for a day or two, but rail trips do. The 48 hour rule is presumably in case they miss an overnight sync.
That’s also their reason for putting your uploaded but unused $$ into “limbo” if you don’t swipe your card within 2 months of adding it: they want to keep their database small enough to fit on bus computers so they winnow out unused cards. That at least is my understanding of this needlessly complex system.
FWIW Phil Mocek fought (without success) to stop Orca snarfing up and storing so much information. The card has your last 10 trips on it and your account has all of them, so your employer (or Big Brother) could figure out where you were when. None of this is needed: al the card needs on it is your current starting point and time, to allow fare calculation when you swipe out of train, transfer to another bus etc. It could easily then just decrease the balance on the card and erase everything else.
I’ll make this simple: “No.”
Metro has this ass-backward, 20th Century idea that its books should be balanced on the backs of the working-class riders. Why? Hook everyone at Metro up to a polygraph and ask them if they take transit to work. You know what the results will be.
“No.” Tax the rich, tax the corporations, tax the motor vehicle drivers. Free buses for all – that’s getting on quickly. Adequate money for frequent, 24-hour service, comfortable coaches, street repair to make the transit experience smooth and quiet, 100% ban on parking cars on bus routes. Stop the waterfront tunnel before we spend another dime or billion – plow the money into transit.
You scoff. Screw you. You heard me. I’ll live long enough to see the future say to itself, “What were we thinking?”
“No.” You heard me.
What does this even mean?
Let me interpret: You’all spent so much time in the comments above debating cash vs card, the time it takes for someone to pay cash, the cost of an RFID card, the customer service at Metro that is not responsive to your questions and complaints about the way they handle your money, the flat cost of the ORCA card and how that figures into the final cost, the efficiency of buying an ORCA card when you don’t ride tranist all that often, the assertion that the $5.00 + $5.00 is not that much, especially if you’re reading this blog, which is for those of us for whom $10.00 is nothing, really….. and on. And on. Here is the cruel truth:
No one should pay one dime to ride transit.
Who should pay? The Rich, who make their billions on the backs of you who ride transit. The Corporations, who make their trillions from those workers who are funneled into their workplaces each day by transit. And those who own Motor Vehicles, who enjoy a light traffic commute while passing you, crammed into transit.
No one should pay one dime to ride transit. But is that the end of the story? No. You should get a free ride wherever you wish on transit. But this ride should be quick, frequent, quiet, comfortable, convenient – at all hours, on all days. This costs money, as well. Tax those already mentioned above.
The Age of The Automobile is coming to a close. Do the math.
Shakes head.
[…] ORCA cards are now available at most QFC and Safeway Capitol Hill grocery stores. […]