ORCA Business Programs for Snohomish County
ORCA for Business makes it easy for Snohomish County employers to offer public transit benefits. With an ORCA card, your employees can ride public transportation across the Puget Sound region—for commuting, errands, and fun. Explore our program options below to find out how you and your employees can benefit.
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Program options
ORCA Business Passport
Comprehensive benefits including unlimited transit travel for your whole team.
Passport offers an unlimited-trip ORCA pass to all benefits-eligible employees, including Vanpool and Guaranteed Ride Home services.
This program is for employers with 5+ employees. Custom contracts are available to businesses with 500+ employees.
First-time Passport customers are eligible for up to 50% off their first-year contract with the ORCA Business Incentive.
Frequently asked questions about ORCA Business Passport
- Unlimited rides on all regular bus services on Community Transit, Everett Transit, Kitsap Transit, King County Metro Transit, Pierce Transit and Sound Transit
- Unlimited rides on regular Sound Transit Link light rail service
- Unlimited rides on paratransit transportation on Community Transit DART, King County Metro Access, Kitsap Transit Access, and Pierce Transit SHUTTLE.
- Unlimited on-demand rides on Community Transit Zip Shuttle, Metro Flex, Pierce Transit RUNNER, and Kitsap Transit Dial-A-Ride.
- Unlimited rides on Sounder commuter rail
- Unlimited rides on the Seattle Center Monorail
- 100% vanpool fare subsidy on Community Transit, Kitsap Transit, Metro Transit, and Pierce Transit vanpool vans
- 100% vanshare fare subsidy on Metro Transit vanshare vans
- Unlimited rides on Seattle Streetcar, King County Water Taxi, and Kitsap Foot and Fast Ferries
- Emergency guaranteed ride home service
- The most transit service at the lowest cost
- Reduce administrative costs — the Passport annual program does not require monthly online administration or knowledge of what type of passes employees need
- Offer employees an annual comprehensive transportation pass with a single card
- Manage employee cards online
- Combine with pre-tax and save on FICA taxes
- Attract and retain employees with competitive transit benefits
- Employers can open more parking for customers and reduce congestion near the workplace
- Helps the business become more environmentally conscious
- Incentivizes employees to choose sustainable commuting options
- Provides equitable transportation benefits to all employees
- Helps employees save on their commuting costs
- Employees can avoid car traffic and read, rest, or check emails during their commute
- People who sustainably commute to work may be healthier and less stressed
- Empowers people to choose environmentally conscious travel options
- Provides employees with flexible commuting options
- Employees can use Trailhead Direct to access hiking destinations along I-90
- For a cost estimate visit King County Metro’s Passport Zone Cost Estimator.
- ORCA Business Passport prices offer annual prices per pass. The price varies depending on the location of the company’s worksite.
- Passport prices are adjusted every 6 months to reflect fare changes amongst the six participating transit agencies
- Companies that participate in the ORCA Passport program typically demonstrate increased ridership after the first year. Renewal pricing for the area is adjusted to account for this increase.
- New ORCA Business Passport customers are subject to an initial one-time $3 per pass card fee.
- New ORCA Business Passport customers are eligible for the ORCA Business Incentive.
- ORCA Business Passport is only available to individuals through their employer
- The program requires that a pass be purchased for every benefits-eligible employee at the worksite
- Companies can share up to 50% of the price of the pass with employees
- Participating companies must have a minimum of 5 employees depending on the location of the company worksite
ORCA Business Choice
Flexible & customized coverage for employers of all sizes.
Employers can choose which employees get an ORCA card and which transit options to offer them.
Frequently asked questions about ORCA Business Choice
- Monthly transit passes at retail prices for bus, train, water taxi or Metro vanpool
- Access to all regular bus services on Community Transit, Everett Transit, Kitsap Transit, King County Metro Transit, Pierce Transit and Sound Transit
- Access to regular Sound Transit Link light rail service
- Access to Sounder commuter rail
- Access to Washington State Ferries*
- Access to Seattle Center Monorail
- E-purse option — Employees use stored value to pay for travel on a per-trip basis or convert to monthly pass
*Additional packages must be purchased
- Incentivize employees to choose sustainable commuting options
- Purchase ORCA cards and load or reload value monthly, or as needed, online
- Load multiple ORCA products such as a ferry pass or e-purse onto a single ORCA card
- Provide cards only to those employees using transit services
- Provide a subsidy and/or Pre-Tax benefit to employees
- Flexibility to change products from month to month
- Conveniently pre-pay online
- Replace lost or stolen cards to transfer products to new cards using online replacement transactions
- Combine with pre-tax and save on FICA taxes
- Attract and retain employees with competitive transit benefits
- Employers can open more parking for customers and reduce congestion near the workplace
- Helps the business become more environmentally conscious
- Load bus, train, ferry and Metro vanpool passes and per-trip fares on one card
- Employees can add funds to cover the cost difference between the employer-sponsored subsidy and the total cost of the desired product or fare
- Ability to register cards. If a card is lost or stolen, the card can then be replaced with a replacement transaction and the value issued to a new unused card
- Employees incur lower commuting costs than if they paid out of pocket
- Employees who use a sustainable commute to work may be healthier and less stressed, potentially saving the company on health insurance claims and sick leave
- Employees can avoid car traffic and read, rest, or check emails during their commute
- Empowers people to choose environmentally conscious travel options
Business Choice vs. Business Passport
Business Choice
- No minimum number of employees.
- No annual contract.
- Employer decides whether to subsidize all, some, or none of the cost. Employee pays the rest.
- Different subsidies for different employees available.
- Retail prices apply. View price list.
- Sign up online to get started.
Business Passport
- Minimum of 5 employees.
- Annual contract.
- Employer subsidizes 50–100% of the cost of each pass. Employee pays portion not paid by employer.
- Same subsidy for all employees.
- Annual bulk pricing depending on company location. Estimate the cost.
- Connect with an ORCA for Business specialist by scheduling a meeting or emailing us at ORCABusinessAccounts@commtrans.org.
| Business Choice | Business Passport | |
|---|---|---|
| Unlimited-use ORCA cards for all employees | ||
| Employee cost-sharing option (employee pre-tax payroll deduction) | ||
| Add value to cards monthly or as needed | Optional | |
| Annual contract | ||
| Employer contributions required and 5+ employees needed | ||
| Online card management & direct customer support | ||
| Vanpool subsidy | Optional | |
| Emergency Guaranteed Ride Home taxi rides | Optional | |
| Invoice payment option | ||
| Credit card payment option ($10,000 max per transaction) | ||
| Pricing | View price list | Estimate the cost |
Employer toolkit
Use our ORCA for Business brochures and flyers to educate your team about their transit benefits.
Encourage your employer to sign up for ORCA for Business
Did you know your employer can cover your fare with ORCA for Business? Employers can get significantly discounted rates on unlimited-use regional transit passes for employees through ORCA Passport, saving you hundreds on transit costs. Use our script to ask your employer about ORCA benefits today!
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