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Model Program

ORCA LIFT

Summary    

• Community Transit offers a reduced fare for income-elligible residents through the ORCA LIFT Program. What is ORCA LIFT? An ORCA card that allows riders to pay a reduced bus fare because their household income is less than or equal to 200% the federal poverty level, established by the U.S. Dept. of Health & Human Services.^[1] This program helps avoid fare evasion.^[2] 

Goal    

• Once you qualify for the ORCA LIFT program, you'll receive an ORCA LIFT card registered to your name, with the same features every ORCA card has. You can load an E-purse value on your card to pay for trips one at a time, or load a discounted monthly pass that lets you take unlimited trips for an entire month. But what makes ORCA LIFT special is you have all the power and convenience of the ORCA card system at a fraction of the cost.
• With the ORCA LIFT card, income-qualified riders can save up to 50 percent or more on:
• King County Metro buses
• King County Water Taxi
• Community Transit buses
• Everett Transit buses
• Kitsap Transit buses
• Seattle Center Monorail
• Seattle Streetcar
• Sound Transit Link light rail
• Sound Transit Regional Express buses
• Sounder Trains

• In mid-2020, Metro is planning to launch a new ORCA LIFT subsidy program. Eligible customers will receive a fully subsidized transit pass, good for one year of unlimited rides on Metro Transit services, at no cost to them. The rider can also load E-purse value to the card and pay reduced fares on other transit systems. The program aims to increase mobility for tens of thousands of people in extreme poverty, enabling connections to services, employment, and education. ^[3]

Cost   

• Many discount programs are supported by cost-sharing with cities, counties, partner organizations, grants, or through dedicated sales tax measures; few are fully funded by the transit agency alone. 
• Estimated net program costs for 2020:
• Expenses: $30M
• Revenue: $24M
• Net costs: $6M
• At the root of the issue is income inequality and regional poverty.
• Success hinges on consistent and sustainable funding.
• Ongoing conversations with County Council in 2020 about sustainable funding.^[4] 

Implementation     

How to get an ORCA LIFT card:

     1) Review income: Review your household income guidelines or call (206) 553-3000 or (800) 756-5437 to see if you qualify. Eligibility is based on your household income.

     2) Apply in person: Apply at any one of the authorized enrollment offices around King County and get your free ORCA LIFT card at the same time.

     3) Load and use: Load and use your ORCA LIFT card on transit like any other ORCA card user, and SAVE MONEY!

Age requirements

To get an ORCA LIFT card, you must be between 19 and 64 years of age. Children six through 18 are eligible for an ORCA youth card, which may be obtained free of charge by LIFT cardholders, and those 65 and older are eligible for a Regional Reduced Fare Permit (RRFP) card. People with disabilities may qualify for the RRFP card.^[5]

Evaluation    summarize any evaluation findings that policy or program effectiveness

• Since 2015, ORCA LIFT has helped over 67,000 Seattle residents get to their jobs, to doctors appointments, and to school.^[6]
•  It is difficult to compare costs between programs since agencies evaluate costs differently, especially with respect to foregone revenue.^[7]
• King County Metro has won a 2017 VISION 2040 Award from the Puget Sound Regional Council for its ORCA Lift program.^[8] 

Status    indicate whether this policy or program has been adopted in more locations or remains a proposal 

• The program, which was launched by King County Executive Dow Constantine, has gained attention in other metropolitan regions, such as Boston and Charlotte, N.C., as an example of how regional governments can increase access to opportunity.^[9]

Point of View    quotations from those in support or opposition to this policy or program 

Opposition

• The new fare policy, Orca Lift, which took effect March 1, 2015, has great intentions. By offering low-income public transit riders in Seattle the opportunity to pay $1 less per ride, King County Metro hopes to help people continue to access goods, services and leisure activities. However, if this policy is an effort to acknowledge the rapidly vanishing middle class in Seattle, they are dangerously misguided. They have fallen into what I am calling the fallacy of selective benefits. If the goal is to reduce inequality, the shortsighted and insultingly small contribution actually divides us and our interests. Let me explain: it is shortsighted and divisive because the benefits are only for a portion of the population. The program is only for people earning less than double the federal poverty guidelines, about one in four. Because the other 75% of the population has to pay more for their tickets, a raise implemented to cover the costs of the Orca Lift program, using public transit becomes less likely for a large majority. Putting poor people onto buses and wealthy people into cars is a terrible and predictable outcome of this policy. The relationl poverty perspective illuminates clearly the dangers of the fallacy of selective benefits. Victoria Lawson and Sarah Elwood of the University of Washington have written of the importance of inter-class contact zones as a source of empathy and re-working of class dynamics.

Support

• Written comments by participants tell about the increase in access to the city: 
• “The ORCA pass program fundamentally changed transportation for me. I make more frequent trips using public transportation since purchasing the card, and it has given me freedom to take advantage of opportunities in Seattle. For example, I'm able to take advantage of specials in grocery stores that are beyond walking distance. I'm able to get extensive reduced-fee dental care at the University of Washington School of Dentistry without worrying about transportation costs. I've explored new areas of Seattle that were previously out of reach because of transportation costs. The ORCA pass program has improved my quality of life.”
• “It's been nice to be able to go to Edmonds or Tacoma and Puyallup on my days off.”
• “My wife is unemployed, we have an infant son, my hours are cut at work and [thanks to this pass] I feel equally involved in the city's access to public transportation even though I'm low income - a blessing.”
• “This has made it affordable for my child and I to use the train and bus now when we couldn't afford it before the program started.”  “Without the Orca card my family would not be able to travel nearly as much.”
•  “I don't have to worry if I have enough money to go to the store or the doctor.” 

• Transit agencies often treat fare evasion with arrests and prosecution, but Seattle’s King County Metro is going with compassion and progressivism.^[10]

Contact     contact information for sponsor of this policy or program 

• King County Metro's customer service: 206-553-3000
• Sam Zimbabwe, Director of Seattle Department of Transportation

Bibliography    link to any additional readings or websites related to this policy or program 

• Boston's Fare Policy: https://www.boston.gov/sites/default/files/file/document_files/2019/06/fair_mbta_fare_policy_and_extended_service_hours.pdf