ORCA transfers help save money

LYNNWOOD — It’s never been easier or cheaper to get around Puget Sound.

With light rail now becoming part of the transit scene in Snohomish County as opposed to something new and shiny, it’s opening up a lot of possibilities. For example, one of my favorite places to spend time out of Snohomish County is north Seattle, specifically around Green Lake.

Along with Phinney Ridge and Fremont, there are neighborhoods that are fun to spend some time in. Recently, I’ve been leveraging the ORCA transfer system to save some money. Transfers are pretty simple. Hop on one form of transit and you have a two-hour window to transfer to another form.

Say I wanted to head down there after work. There’s a Community Transit Swift Blue stop not far from the Everett Herald. Swift Blue now goes all the way to the Shoreline North light rail station, meaning you don’t even need a bus transfer to get on light rail from downtown Everett. It’s $2.50 to get on the bus and another 50 cents to get on light rail coming from a Community Transit bus.

I often think of the Link as Seattle’s spine, with bus routes spiraling out from it like ribs. Transferring off those opens up an incredible amount of the area to anyone with an ORCA card. Outside of access to the Link, what the Lynnwood extension has done is also open up a lot of King County Metro routes to Snohomish County residents.

And interestingly enough, if you start your ride with Metro and then get on the Link, the train is actually just a quarter as single Metro rides are $2.75.

“It’s beneficial for people who need more than one mode to get to where they need to go,” said David Jackson, a Sound Transit spokesperson does significant work with ORCA. “It just gives people more options.”

Sure, if you’re taking a day downtown, the Link will get you close. But the buses can easily get you to a hundred other places this region has to offer. Before the Link, it was a long Swift ride to the RapidRide E line to get deeper into Seattle or a commuter bus ride to Northgate.

Now there’s multiple options to get to rail and the many things that opens up for Snohomish County residents interested in venturing south. Lynnwood residents have the advantage of being able to hop on several different forms of transit to get to rail.

Area transit agencies are looking to make their service more financially accessible, and have made moves in that direction in the past year. Sound Transit lowered its express bus fare to $3, which will take effect on March 1. It also removed the Link’s distance-based pricing system and replaced it with a flat $3 fee.

Following suit, Community Transit lowered the price of reduced fares to $1. Others who qualify based on income for the Subsidized Annual Pass will be able to ride for free.

Puget Sound transit agencies are also gearing up for the World Cup in 2026. They’re expecting a lot of people.

“It’ll be like a Taylor Swift concert every day,” Jackson said.

ORCA has already pushed out its virtual card on Android devices and while Apple is in the works, there’s not a whole lot transit agencies can about that at this point.

“There’s a lot of behind-the-scenes work that goes into getting our transit card onto a technology platform,” Jackson said.

With the crowds coming from the World Cup — and increased uptick from the Lynnwood Link extension — there’s going to be a lot of interest in taking transit. The ability to use all these forms of transportation in concert and without fees stacking up for one ride is something to take advantage of.

“Transit needs to be an easy choice for people, so we’re focused on making it an effortless experience for everyone,” Community Transit CEO Ric Ilgenfritz said in a recent press release. “With dependable, affordable bus service – and more of it – people will be able to take advantage of regional improvements, like light rail, to get farther, faster, and to get around their own community with ease.”

Jordan Hansen: 425-339-3046; jordan.hansen@heraldnet.com; X: @jordyhansen.