February 29, 2024
Tapping In: ORCA Monthly News for February 2024
Newsletter Survey Feedback
The January edition of the newsletter asked readers to rate their experience as Tapping In subscribers. Overall, reviews were generally positive in nature! But we clearly have opportunities to deliver more exciting information and stories.
Here are some common trends from the survey feedback:
Project Updates
Several survey responses mentioned wanting more information about future ORCA upgrades, such as phone payments, bike & scooter integrations, and more. We hear you, and we promise to share information with you as soon as we are able. As we say often, stay tuned and subscribe to this newsletter and our social media accounts! Exciting news is right around the corner.
Rider Tips
ORCA is what ties Puget Sound transit services together. As such, we have a unique opportunity to share rider tips for getting around the region. Heading to a Mariners game from Snohomish County? Or going from Bellevue to a show at the Tacoma Dome? We can highlight how to efficiently travel around the area using public transit, and focus more on highlighting places to see and things to do in the greater community.
ORCA Merch
Boop toys. Stickers. Contests and events. A lot of readers mentioned wanting more connections with the fun side of ORCA. We have plenty of Boop toys and other exciting plans for the year we can’t wait to share with you.
Exciting Spring for Puget Sound Transit
It may still be winter, but spring is sure to warm up quickly with the launch of some big Puget Sound transit projects.
Pierce Transit is expanding its Runner service beginning March 3rd. This on-demand service will cover parts of Northeast Tacoma, Tacoma’s North End, and Puyallup. And yes! You can use ORCA to pay your fare on Runner.
Community Transit is launching the new Swift Orange Line on March 30th.This new bus-rapid-transit line will connect Edmonds, Lynnwood, Mill Creek, and places in between. Be sure to check out the grand opening block party on March 30th at Edmonds College from 12 –
3 pm! Members from the ORCA Team will be in attendance with giveaways in tow.
Sound Transit is opening the 2 Line from South Bellevue to Redmond Technology Station on April 27th. Connecting eight stations on the east side, the 2 Line will run trains every ten minutes, from 5:30 am – 9:30 pm, seven days a week. The full 2 Line, connecting Seattle to Mercer Island and stations east of Lake Washington, will open at a later date.
ORCA Updates and Reminders
We are consistently adding new stores to the ORCA retail network. Most recently, ORCA cards can now be sold and reloaded at Taqueria La Rancherita in Renton (530 Rainier Ave S). Curious to find a store near you? Check out this map of all ORCA locations.
myORCA Account and App Notifications
In case you missed it, enhanced email, text, and push notification settings went live in October – you can learn more about how to enable them on our support site.
The ORCA Newsletter is Online
Launched last month, we now have an archive of ORCA newsletters available on our info.myORCA.com site.
