ORCA LIFT Low-Income Bus Fare Expands to Snohomish County, July 1

Eligible residents will have access to a reduced bus fare on Community Transit and Everett Transit buses through the regional electronic fare card 

Snohomish County, Wash. – Beginning July 1, Community Transit and Everett Transit will offer a low-income fare for eligible riders who use an ORCA LIFT fare card. Riders cannot get the low-income fare by paying with cash on the bus. In Snohomish County, individuals can apply for the ORCA LIFT card at four Washington Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS) customer service offices.

Community Transit and Everett Transit are joining other regional agencies in the ORCA LIFT program, including King County Metro Transit and Sound Transit.

Community Transit low-income fare
For Community Transit service, the ORCA LIFT fare is $1.25 for local bus riders (routes within Snohomish County) and $2 for commuter bus riders (routes that travel to and from King County). Adults and youth will pay the same low-income fare with an ORCA LIFT card. This reduced fare is half the regular adult fare for Community Transit service.

Everett Transit low-income fare
For Everett Transit service, the ORCA LIFT fare is $1.50 for local bus riders. Commuter Route 70 fares are the same as Community Transit’s local service, including its new low-income fare category. 

Who qualifies?
People with household income of less than 200 percent of the federal poverty level (as established by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services) qualify for ORCA LIFT.

Community Transit and Everett Transit are partnering with DSHS to enroll and distribute ORCA LIFT cards at four Snohomish County DSHS offices, in Arlington, Everett, Lynnwood, and Monroe.

People can visit the designated DSHS offices starting July 1 from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. to apply for a card. They will need to bring income and identity verification documents for an in-person review to determine eligibility. Details on what to bring are available at www.communitytransit.org/ORCALIFT.

Eligibility verification must be done in person. Applicants should allow for wait times and processing time. Once eligibility is determined the first ORCA LIFT card is free, although it is up to the user to add fare value onto the card before using it. If a card is lost or stolen, replacement cards will cost $3.

Enrollment locations require applicants to complete a DSHS application as part of the intake process. If applicants qualify for an ORCA LIFT card, they may be eligible for additional services provided by DSHS.

For more information on locations, eligibility documentation or how to use an ORCA card, visit www.communitytransit.org/ORCALIFT.

Community Transit and Everett Transit riders that already have an ORCA LIFT card will automatically be charged the new reduced fare on July 1.

About ORCA LIFT
The ORCA LIFT (low income fare ticket) fare card is valid for reduced fare on Community Transit, Everett Transit, Kitsap Transit (bus, Foot Ferry and Fast Ferry), King County Metro Transit, Sound Transit (Link, ST Express and Sounder), Seattle Streetcar, and King County Water Taxi.

Kitsap Transit was the first transit agency in the Puget Sound region to introduce a low-income fare, prior to the creation of the ORCA LIFT program. People who use Kitsap Transit’s low-income reduced fare are also eligible to receive a reduced fare on public transit systems that have ORCA LIFT programs.

The ORCA LIFT program was created by King County in March 2015 and expanded to include Sound Transit service in March 2016. More than 90,000 riders have taken 24 million ORCA LIFT reduced fare trips since March 2015.