Commuter Check

Seven Western Washington public transportation agencies– Community Transit, Everett Transit, King County Metro Transit, Kitsap Transit, Pierce Transit, Sound Transit and Washington State Ferries have collaborated to produce a regional fare system called, ORCA. The ORCA card uses smart card technology and offers the convenience of one-stop shopping for Puget Sound-area public transportation needs.

Since the ORCA card inception last year, the agencies have worked to restructure their corporate pass program. Part of the restructuring involved dissolving the King County Commuter Bonus Voucher program. The Commuter Bonus Voucher program was a successful program for many years and was utilized by many employers as a way to offer and administer a commuter benefit program for their employees’. The program offered a voucher that is accepted by the Western Washington public transportation agencies to purchase passes and pay for vanpool services. However, with the ORCA card, the need for the Commuter Bonus voucher has declined over the past year ultimately leading to the decision to end the voucher program.

In order to streamline the ORCA card and corporate pass program with the termination of the Commuter Bonus voucher program, notifications were sent to the employers ordering the vouchers informing them about the change and that December 2009 would be the last time they could order Commuter Bonus vouchers.  On a very limited basis, vouchers will continue to be provided for 2010 to human service agencies that have special needs.

Commuter Check spoke with Carol Merrill, Customer Services Supervisor Employer/Retail Products, at King County Metro who said, “Regional transit agencies will continue to accept our Commuter Bonus vouchers as long they have not expired.” She also mentioned that part of their notification of the termination of Commuter Bonus vouchers listed Commuter Check as an alternative voucher provider for employers looking to maintain their current voucher offering. Since the notification of the elimination of the Commuter Bonus voucher, Commuter Check has been fielding calls from employers to fill in the gap. The Commuter Check voucher is accepted by the 7 Western Washington transit agencies for the purchase of transit products, vanpool payments or to load the ORCA card at commuter store sales locations or by mailing the voucher into the ORCA Regional Mail Center.

Carol Merrill goes on to state, “I don’t know how widespread the demand (for vouchers in the Western Washington area) will be or for how long it will continue as we are daily converting additional employers to the ORCA smart card, but there may be some companies that will never convert and would prefer to use vouchers.”. Commuter Check will be there to help these employers should it be offering vouchers or providing employers an option to administer their employee’s commuter benefit by loading the ORCA card on their behalf.