ORCA card


The ORCA card is a contactless, stored-value smart card system for public transit in the Puget Sound region of Washington, United States. The card is valid on most transit systems in the Seattle metropolitan area, including Sound Transit, local bus agencies, Washington State Ferries, the King County Water Taxi, and Kitsap Fast Ferries. It was launched in 2009 and is managed by the Central Puget Sound Regional Fare Coordination Project, a board composed of local transit agencies.
The card is able to be loaded with "e-purse" value, similar to a debit card, and monthly passes. Cards are sold and reloaded at participating grocery stores, customer service centers, and ticket vending machines at transit stations. ORCA cards offer free transfers between transit systems within a two-hour window.
In 2018, the Central Puget Sound Regional Transit Authority contracted INIT to replace the legacy ORCA system with an account-based, open architecture system known as "next generation ORCA". The next-generation ORCA system will offer new payment options including mobile ticketing, maintain customer data security, and provide real-time account management and fare processing so customers can instantly add value to their account at any time. The new system is set to roll out in phases, which began with a new website and app in May 2022.

History

Central Puget Sound transit agencies have collaborated in a region-wide fare system since 1991 with the introduction of U-PASS and later FlexPass. In 1996, voters approved Sound Move, which called for an integrated regional fare policy for a "one-ticket ride". That goal led to the creation of the PugetPass in 1999, which allowed transit riders to use a single pass for five transit agencies.
On April 29, 2003, an agreement to implement a smart card system between the seven agencies in the Central Puget Sound Regional Fare Coordination Project was signed along with a $43 million contract awarded to ERG Transit Systems as the vendor and system integrator of the project. The ORCA card was originally anticipated to be operational in 2006.
Between November 9 and December 22, 2006, as many as 6,000 transit riders were asked to participate in a live test of the smart card system. The test was conducted on selected routes of the seven participating agencies. The University of Washington conducted a separate test for integrating ORCA with the Husky Card and U-PASS during the same period.
A limited rollout of the ORCA system began on April 20, 2009, which allowed remaining technical issues in the system to be resolved. An extensive rollout and public outreach campaign followed in June 2009. Blank cards were available at no charge during the introductory period, which lasted until March 1; from then on, the card cost $5. Users of PugetPasses, FlexPasses, and other passes were to be gradually transitioned to ORCA.

Launch timeline

The ORCA launch press kit gave a launch timeline as follows:
  • April 17, 2009 – Press release announcing launch of ORCA.
  • April 20, 2009 – Orcacard.com and 1-888-988-ORCA call center launches. Customer Service Offices begin ORCA card distribution.
  • May 2009 – Sounder Ticket Vending Machines begin ORCA card distribution. "ORCA is Here" inserts and posters appear in Customer Service Offices and on board buses, trains, and ferries. Switch began of Reduced Fare customers and Business Accounts to ORCA.
  • June 2009 – "ORCA is Here!" radio and print ads and bus billboards appear. Public outreach campaign with blank card distribution.
  • July 2009 – Link light rail service begins and Link TVMs begin ORCA card distribution.
  • Jan 1, 2010 – Elimination of intersystem paper transfers.
  • Fall 2010 – The planned replacement of University of Washington student and employee ID cards with ORCA-integrated photo ID cards was delayed until sometime in 2011. The U-PASS and the King County employee passes were to be dual purpose passes and were to include the ORCA chip.
  • May 2013 – 120 retail stores from QFC, Safeway, and Sears begin selling ORCA cards
  • 2015 – The regional day pass debuts
  • 2019 – 10 year anniversary card released
  • 2023-2025 – Three designs featuring art by youth artists released, coinciding with the opening of RapidRide lines H, G, and I.

    Branding

The ORCA name refers to orca whales that inhabit the Puget Sound. The name was originally suggested by the Sound Transit project manager as in keeping with a theme of successful earlier smart card system names such as Oyster and Octopus, but the name was not accepted by the project joint board until the acronym "One Regional Card for All" was suggested by another Sound Transit staff member.
An orca mascot for the card and system was unveiled in 2023 and named "Boop" in a public contest. The mascot's name is an onomatopoeia for the sound of a card reader when an ORCA card is tapped.

Next generation project

The ORCA Joint Board approved a capital-and-service contract with INIT in 2018 to design and implement a major overhaul of the ORCA system, including new cards, mobile ticketing, and compatibility with contactless payment credit cards and smartphones. Approximately 2,900 on-board fare validators, 1,000 off-board validators, and 250 vending machines were to be replaced under the contract.
A new website and smartphone app was launched in May 2022 with a weekend-long fare-free period to introduce new validators and card readers. Ticket vending machines for Link light rail were also taken offline for three days as part of the transition. The new website and app allowed for fare management without the previous 24-hour delay. The new card readers and validators initially did not display e-purse balances and pass statues until a later update. The machines' noise was also reduced, which drew criticism from passengers and was later corrected.
The new, black-colored cards debuted in October 2022 as part of a retail rollout following a short beta test period. On June 24, 2024, virtual ORCA cards were made available for Google Wallet users with full support across the system's member agencies. Additional smartphone and contactless credit card compatibility had also been announced for 2023, but these features were delayed due to system issues with the user experience and management of employee accounts. In May 2024, an estimated 431,000 ORCA cards were used for at least one trip.

Technology

The original card uses the ISO/IEC 14443 RFID standard. Specifically, the MIFARE DESFire EV1 which "implements all 4 levels of ISO / IEC 14443A and uses optional ISO / IEC 7816-4 commands.".
The new card, which features a black design, includes a barcode and magstripe for quicker reloading at retail outlets.

Agencies

ORCA is managed by the Central Puget Sound Regional Fare Coordination System, a joint board of directors with representatives of all member transit agencies. Day-to-day management is provided by the staff of Sound Transit and King County Metro. The system is centrally operated by Vix Technology.

Current

E-purse

An ORCA card can be used as a stored-value card through a function called the electronic purse. The E-purse holds value that can be used like cash to pay fare. The minimum value that can be added to an E-purse is $5. The maximum value that can be stored in an E-purse is $400.

PugetPass

PugetPass is a regional monthly pass that lets passengers travel on nearly every transit service in the region for a calendar month. A PugetPass is valid for payment of trip fares up to the value of the pass. Trip fares above the value of the pass may be paid with E-purse value.. Washington State Ferries does not accept the PugetPass. Pass values available range from 50¢ to $5.75 in 25¢ increments; there is also a $10.00 value pass. Passes are priced at $36 per $1 of fare value.

Regional Day Pass

This pass costs $6 or $2 and is valid for unlimited rides on all supported regional transit agencies for the entirety of the day in which it was purchased.The Regional Day Pass can be purchased at stations, online, or on a mobile app.

Agency specific products and pass

An agency pass covers rides on a specific transit agency's service. Examples include Washington State Ferries' monthly passes, Metro ACCESS paratransit passes, and Metro vanpool passes.

Business products

Employers may purchase one of two products for their employees:
The ORCA Business Passport is comprehensive, annual transportation pass program. Employers pay a flat annual cost per employee and each receives an ORCA card that covers almost all transit services in the Puget Sound, including Vanpool. Employers must cover all employees.
The ORCA Business Choice allows businesses to add funds to employee ORCA cards on a monthly basis in the form of an E-voucher. The E-voucher can be used to purchase a monthly PugetPass or E-purse value. Any unused E-voucher amount at the end of the month is removed from the employee ORCA cards and refunded to the business.

Seattle Public Schools

Seattle's former Mayor Jenny Durkan proposed free ORCA cards for students enrolled in Seattle Public Schools, it is not clear if current mayor Bruce Harrell supports this proposal. Seattle Public Schools has issued ORCA cards to students previously; the Interagency program provided these to students from low-income families and those who live more than two miles from their school. Starting in 2022, all youth under 19 years old are able to ride public transportation for free; Seattle Public Schools no longer provides ORCA cards to students as they are not necessary. Students can still order a free youth ORCA card from MyORCA, however, tapping is not necessary to board transit.