ORCA FAQ
ORCA Card Transit Pass
The ORCA Card is a regional, public transit pass which can be used by employees to ride regular Metro, Sound Transit, Pierce Transit, Kitsap Transit, Community Transit, and Everett Transit bus service anytime, anywhere all over King, Snohomish, Pierce, and Kitsap Counties. The pass is available to employees at a subsidized rate and can be used for personal as well as college use.
Public transportation includes: Link Light Rail system, Metro streetcars (the South Lake Union Trolley and the Broadway streetcar), the Sounder Train (Everett to Tacoma), some Amtrak Cascades trains between Seattle and Everett, the King County Water Taxis (West Seattle and Vashon routes) and the Kitsap Transit Foot Ferry (Port Orchard and Annapolis Routes) as well as the Bremerton-Seattle Fast Ferry.
Unfortunately, the College cannot replace your ORCA or sell more than one to you per quarter. Once a student purchases the card, we ask that each student register the card online, in order to protect it. If a student loses their card, they should contact an ORCA customer service representative to block the lost card and obtain a replacement. The College has no control whatsoever over the ORCA cards once the student purchases one. To register the card online, please visit ORCA Customer Service.
Absolutely. Registered cards that are lost, stolen or damaged may be replaced by contacting ORCA customer service.
At the end of the quarter, any unused portion of the ORCA is still available for your use for up to two years.
All ORCA cards automatically deduct adult fares. To be charged the youth fare, one must apply and register for a Youth ORCA card, which is not sold at the College. Youth ORCA cards require proof of age and can be purchased in person at ORCA customer service locations. Converting the funds from the ORCA card purchased at the College into the Youth ORCA card is possible only at the King Street Station; visit customer service at metro.kingcounty.gov for hours and directions.
Students can use the funds on their ORCA to purchase the “monthly, unlimited-trips” Puget Pass by visiting an ORCA customer service station, located at the Westlake Center bus tunnel, or at the King Street Station downtown, Monday - Friday. Please visit customer service at: metro.kingcounty.gov for hours and directions.
No, not at this time. You can only convert your ORCA to a Puget Pass at the Westlake Center bus tunnel or the King Street Station.
The technology does not yet exist for individuals to convert ORCA card and Puget Pass types without the assistance of an ORCA customer service representative. The college cashiers are not ORCA customer service representatives. To find the ORCA customer service representative closest to you, visit: metro.kingcounty.gov for hours and directions.
Increased transit costs and increased ridership required colleges and universities across the Puget Sound to modify transportation programs. Seattle Colleges assessed all options available and implemented the best program to meets the needs of their students and colleges.
For ORCA information visit: orcacard.com
For King County Metro Transit information visit: metro.kingcounty.gov
For ORCA-Plus information visit: northseattle.edu/parking-transportation/bus-transit-options