I recently worked on an instagram campaign with King Country metro where I learned that Washington State is the first state in the USA where youth can ride free until their 19th birthday. Since late 2022, thanks to Move Ahead Washington which is a statewide transportation funding package, transit is free for riders 18 and younger in Washington state. In Seattle, youth are encouraged to register for an ORCA card but this is not necessary to ride transit as a youth- it helps transit agencies understand where youth are using transit. You can find more about the Youth Ride Free program in this link.
How to get an ORCA card in Seattle
You can order a new Youth ORCA card at myORCA.com/buy-online and adults can get their ORCA cards there too (they cost $3 for adults and then you can load the fares). For youth, you will need to upload a copy of your K-12 student ID, state ID or driver’s license, birth certificate, or passport to confirm your age. You do not need to add money or a pass to the card and after you order it your ORCA card will arrive in the mail.
How can I learn how to ride public transit in Seattle
King Country Metro has a great site on how to ride metro. My family often just uses Google Maps to find the routes and times and One Bus Away is a helpful resource as well. For youth riding the bus you can use your ORCA pass, student ID or just board. For light rail it seems like it is the same procedure for youth. I haven’t seen an area where you go through a turnstile yet like in NYC where you would need to scan a ticket or ORCA card in order to open a gate to board. It seems like youth 18 and under can just board even if they do not yet have an ORCA card but always read through the site to make sure. Youth can also ride the Seattle Streetcar too! There is even a blog post on how to ride the streetcar safely.
Can youth ride ferries for free?
I couldn’t believe that ferries were also included in the transportation funding package. Our family loves to ride our bikes on the Bainbridge Island Ferry and if youth can ride free this makes the adventure a whole lot more reasonable. Youth 18 and under can ride ferries in Washington State as long as they are passengers or walk-ons. According to the Washington State ferries website, youth behind the wheel need to pay the adult fare as well as the vehicle fare.
Youth can also ride the water taxi from West Seattle to downtown for free. You can bring bikes on this water taxi if you want to bike around Alki Beach. I’ve only done this once (we rode over the West Seattle bridge and took the water taxi and I’m not sure how full it gets but apparently there is room for 18-26 bikes.
And can youth ride free on the Monorail?
My guys loved the Monorail so much when they were little and last I checked (6/2023) Kids under 6 are still free to ride. But once they turn 6, it’s even more compelling to get an ORCA card in Seattle because free fare on the Seattle Center Monorail will only be available for youth (6-18) with a valid Youth ORCA card. Riders without a valid Youth ORCA card will need to purchase a ticket from the ticket vending machine to ride the Monorail ($1.75 one way). You can find out more about riding the Monorail with an ORCA card here.
Did you know that youth ride free in Washington State? And do you take public transit?
Terumi Pong is a Seattle-based family travel writer and mom of twin teenage boys. She loves coffee and pastries, shopping local and looking for greener ways to live. She is also known as Scout’s mom (Scout is a 5ish pound little black yorkie-poo)
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