ORCA Lift: Partner Highlight

Buses, trains, water taxis, ferries, and other public transit services are integral to our community. They bring early risers to their office jobs. They help folks make it on time to important doctor appointments. You might hop on a bus while your fellow riders get off to meet friends for dinner, while others rush to their lecture halls at university, or as they get off on the block of their local food bank.

According to a study sponsored by the American Public Health Association, "Transportation decisions affect everyone, by influencing where they live, how they can get to work and school, whether they can easily access health and other essential services, how they socialize with family members and friends, and ultimately if they can thrive in a physical environment that supports healthy outcomes."

At Ballard Food Bank we believe that our neighbors deserve access to food, housing, healthcare AND affordable local transit! One of our Hub Partners - ORCA Lift - understands how foundational transit is in the ecosystem of services that our neighbors rely on. ORCA Lift helps neighbors get the most out of our regional transit systems through a reduced fare card. In other words, if you qualify for an ORCA Lift card you can get onto your choice of transit by only paying $1 in most cases!

ORCA Lift is hosted in our Resource Hub two times a month - usually during the second and third week of each month. Robby the exuberant and friendly ORCA Lift representative who joins us at Ballard Food Bank is happy to chat all things ORCA lift with me.

"I wish more folks would just recognize the inherent value of a reduced fair card", Robby says.

One neighbor let us know just how helpful this card was in conjunction with other resources obtained at the food bank, "I just received my State ID in the mail and I’m so overwhelmed with gratitude. I only have this ID because of Ballard Food Bank’s assistance with the cost of State ID, which in no way I could’ve afforded … You guys have allowed us to have food to eat, move around with ORCA Lift, and get an ID, everything that is essential to slowly helping us back on my feet … I’m finishing up school to be a CNA and I hope I can pay forward the kindness to my future residents/patients. I’m just so overwhelmed with gratitude and I just want you to know you guys have truly left a positive mark in my life."

For many, the path to self-sufficiency means having reliable ways to get to school, to work, to food supports. Just as the person above explains. Having a reduced fare card is often the first step to reliably connecting with other essential resources in the city.

Image by King County Metro

Robby mentions if you are eligible for Apple Health Medicaid or food assistance, you are eligible for ORCA Lift. You can also apply if you're a college student who receives the Washington State Opportunity Grant or if your household income is less than double the federal poverty level.

In order to sign folks up, Robby checks their enrollment status in these benefits immediately through connected databases. Using these benefits as automatic qualifiers streamlines the process. Once you have a card in hand, he says that is like gold.

Robby is determined to educate people in our community about keeping the card safe and sound. Just because the initial funds deplete it doesn't mean the ORCA Lift card in your name is now obsolete. He says that card number will be attached to you for two years and there are easy ways to add funds on the mobile site or through the app.

One of the most asked questions is, "How can I upload more money onto my card?"

Technology can often be a barrier for folks. The ORCA Lift partnership is one that is passionate about giving technology support and walking people through the process of uploading funds so folks can continue to travel across our local metro systems.

Losing the card or throwing it away prematurely is another story. Robby hopes to deter this from happening. If folks lose it then the only way to get another card is to make your way down to Metro." A journey that will cost this person $3 to get down to the nearest customer service location (201 S Jackson Street King Street Center) to request another physical card.

Image by King County Metro

"So anytime the card is lost or stolen, every replacement gets tied back to that original issuance with that original expiration date. You have to block the old card through the app then you have to go to Metro's office - an extra thing." So once you have your card, Robby hopes you will see the inherent value in this great service.

Asked about a memorable experience handing out ORCA Lift cards, Robby responds, "It was just today a Chinese woman with fair English comprehension and language skills came in because her she had an old card that was expiring at the end of this month. So I went in, checked that she was eligible for another card and registered that to her in our system. And then proceeded to walk her through the process of downloading the MyOrca app - She already had it, thankfully, and in Chinese. I just walked her through the process of adding the new card with $20 and how she could transfer the money from her old card that was about to expire at the end of this month to that new card and unlink that card from her account"

Being able to maximize people's use of the local transit system is one of Robby's superpowers. He hopes more folks recognize their eligibility and will take full advantage of the $1 fares available to them.