Edmonds College
OP-T2-29: Mass Transit Programs

Edmonds Community College offers its students, faculty, and staff a subsidized transit pass called the EdPass/ORCA card. The pass is a contract agreement between the college and transit provider Community Transit (CT). It is subsidized by student assessment fees of $5.40 per credit. The pass is a “Business Product” under CT/ORCA guidelines, which means the cards are owned by Edmonds Community College and are sold to the students. The college pays CT for the total number of trips ($1.79 per trip). Trip pricing is based on the total trips taken by EdPass/ORCA card holders from the previous year, with EdCC paying roughly $105 per quarter per card. Students pay $25 for their first EdPass/ORCA card, and can refresh it for $15 per quarter after that. Staff and faculty pay $45 per quarter. If students were to buy their own ORCA card directly from CT, the cost would be $190 per quarter. The card is good for three months of transportation on Community Transit buses. Cards are limited solely to CT routes (excluding other regional transit providers) but cannot exclude commuter runs or limit usage in any other way. The college is directly serviced by two runs, routes 115 and 116, which provide students with 658 buses coming and going throughout the week. Students can also ride SWIFT bus rapid transit (a part of CT) operating on Highway 99, located a couple of blocks from campus. These buses run every ten minutes on weekdays and ORCA EdPass holders account for 15% of the ridership on SWIFT buses.