Employer Bus Pass Programs

Bus passes are the mainstay of many commuter benefit programs. They are highly valued by employees and can be low- to-no cost for the company depending on whether the company wants to contribute monetarily. Even if a company does not contribute to the cost of the pass, you can still offer employees the convenience of obtaining bus passes at work and offer employees the opportunity to take advantage of the commute tax benefits available to those who commute via public transportation.

ORCA is the new regional transportation fare card. ORCA will provide you with new tools to help manage your employee commute program and many more options for you and your employees.

ORCA cards are available for Business Accounts and can be loaded with cash value or monthly passes, beginning with August 2009 passes.

Electronic fare card that allows employers to electronically load passes - or a cash value of their choosing - onto ORCA cards via the web.

The employer provides value on an ORCA card to employees who ride public transportation, either as a tax-free benefit paid by the company (up to $230/month) or as a pre-tax benefit paid by the employee via payroll deduction (up to $230/month).

Find out more about:

• Business Choice [.pdf 47kb] - ORCA monthly pass program plus E-purse and E-voucher for loading cash value
• Business Passport [.pdf 45kb] - ORCA annual pass program

With ORCA:

• You will not need to distribute passes to employees on a monthly basis.
• An employee will be able to use one ORCA card for up to four years which means less work for you and less plastic in our land-fills.
• You will be able to use a web-based system to load the pass or cash value of your choice onto employee ORCA cards.
• You will be able to re-load cards individually, in groups or by business branch
• The ORCA cards you provide to employees belong to your company and you will have the ability to "block" cards if they are lost, stolen or leave your organization when your employee no longer works for you.

How to sign up for an ORCA Business Account

If you currently order monthly passes for your employees - or if you'd like to begin ordering passes - you can take these easy steps to sign up for an ORCA Business Choice account!

If your company currently has a FlexPass program for your employees, you will be contacted two to three months prior to your annual renewal date to discuss the ORCA option that best fits your business needs. The ORCA program most like the FlexPass is the Business Passport. Your current FlexPass will be valid until its expiration date. If your company is interested in an annual Business Passport [.pdf 45kb] program, please contact us.

Still Available through December 2009

Employers purchase retail passes each month in various ride values. Passes are available at sales outlets or can be ordered online, via phone or by mail. The passes are mailed to the place of business.

The employer then gives the passes (a tax-free benefit to the employee up to $230) or sells them (employees may purchase using up to $230 in pre-tax income) to their employees who ride public transportation.

Who pays for the passes?

The company decides whether to subsidize any part of the bus pass cost. Any company-paid subsidy is tax-free to eligible employees up to $230 per month. The individual employee would pay directly to the company any balance not covered by a company subsidy. All pass orders are pre-paid by the company.

When the employee is responsible for any or all of the cost, the amount can be collected by the company directly from the employee or it can be recovered through a pre-tax payroll deduction of up to $230. A pre-tax deduction will save payroll taxes for both the company and the participating employees, effectively increasing the employees' take-home pay.

How much do the passes cost?

The number and types of passes you order and the amount your company decides to subsidize per pass will determine your final cost. There are no service charges for Puget Passes. ORCA cards are initially free but will have a $5 card replacement fee and a $5 new card cost after an introductory period. Fares for both Puget Pass and ORCA Choice reflect current retail rates. The products available to load on ORCA cards have some differences from the current Puget Pass options.

See PugetPass (retail) fares.

See ORCA Choice fares. [.pdf 22kb]

For additional assistance fill out the company information form or contact Employer Services by e-mail employer.program@kingcounty.gov or by phone 206-263-3444.