Launched by King County Metro in 2015, the ORCA LIFT card is a reduced fare transit passed for eligible riders. Click here for additional information. Monthly passes are currently priced at $54, bringing the total cost to $162 per quarter -or- $216 per semester. Seattle University supports this program and will subsidize half of the total cost to students who secure a Seattle University-associated ORCA LIFT pass currently obtained ONLY via three specific enrollment options. Students are responsible for paying ONLY $81 per quarter -or- $108 per semester. Note: This ORCA LIFT card is not associated in any way with Seattle University's former ORCA card program.
(For more accurate and up-to-date information about the Orca-Lift Program, check out their official website here!)
Currently, the ORCA LIFT reduced fares are offered on King County Metro Transit buses, Sound Transit Link light rail, the Seattle Streetcar, the King County Water Taxi, and Kitsap Transit buses.
All other ORCA participating agencies will accept the ORCA LIFT card, but the cardholder will pay the current standard adult fare for service provided by those agencies. You can pay that fare with your card's E-purse value or PugetPass that you have loaded. If you use your PugetPass to pay, you will be credited the trip value of your PugetPass, and will have to make up the difference with E-purse value or cash. Transfers are accepted with the ORCA LIFT card up to the value of the initial fare you paid.
(For more accurate and up-to-date information about the Orca-Lift Program, check out their official website here!)
Nothing. The card is free to qualified individuals. If your card is lost, stolen, or damaged, replacement cards cost $5.00
(For more accurate and up-to-date information about the Orca-Lift Program, check out their official website here!)
People with household income of less than double the federal poverty level (as established by US Health and Human Services Department) qualify for ORCA LIFT.
Max household income to qualify:
If you think that you qualify, visit one of the authorized ORCA LIFT enrollment offices with your income verification documents to confirm that you are eligible. The office will officially register you in the program and give you your free ORCA LIFT card.
If you are already in one of the following benefits programs:
Employed (with a paycheck):
You'll need to provide a paystub for the last 30 days or a signed letter from your place of business on company letterhead.
(For more accurate and up-to-date information about the Orca-Lift Program, check out their official website here!)
Government-issued photo ID
(For more accurate and up-to-date information about the Orca-Lift Program, check out their official website here!)
In the event that you lose your card, you will need this account information to help replace your card. It is also necessary for the overall management of your card.
NOTE. The log-in will prompt you for a “Low-Income ID.” This ID was should be located on the bottom right hand side of the consent form that you signed. Once your login is set up please change your secret question and answer.
The initial value is also the transit value that you can begin using right away since the card comes with no value on it. Also it is used as the value of how much will be subsidized up to the maximum amount.
The university wants to ensure that students who receive a transit subsidy have been enrolled for at least two weeks of school. Since students are now required to put their contribution of the transit pass value onto the card upfront, students will be able to use the card immediately after adding this value. The university then adds the subsidy, giving the student the total value of three monthly passes for the quarter or four monthly passes for the semester.
One may utilize the Autoload feature (an account that is set up to automatically add value to a registered ORCA card using a credit or debit card).
E-purse is transportation value stored on your ORCA card and used like cash to pay your fare. The minimum value you can add to your E-purse is $5. The maximum stored value you can have on your E-purse is $300. A Regional Monthly Pass/ PugetPass allows for unlimited travel on all transit services in the region for a specified period of time.
Because the academic terms often start or end at the beginning or end of a month, students can benefit from using both E-purse value and the monthly pass option together over the course of a term. For instance, students on the quarter system may choose to put a monthly pass on their ORCA card for October and November, but use their remaining E-purse value to travel during the last week of September and the first few weeks in December before fall quarter classes end.
The university subsidy for ORCA LIFT cards is put directly onto the student’s ORCA LIFT card in the form of E-purse value. Students are then responsible for converting E-purse value into a monthly pass as needed.
There a few ways to convert your E-purse funds to monthly pass.
If you lost your ORCA card, come into the Transportation and Parking Services department, and staff will block access to funds on your card and issues you a letter to bring to the Metro Office to get a ORCA Lift Card replacement.
You still may be eligible for a subsidy from Seattle University. Transportation & Parking Services Department sells subsidized ORCA cards in the office that have available e-purse funds and monthly passes that will be loaded during the duration of the term. Non-Lift cards must be purchased before the deadline each academic term.