Monorail to begin accepting ORCA cards in September

If you’ve only taken the Monorail when your relatives were in town, and wondered at the time why they didn’t accept an ORCA card, those days are over.

The ORCA Joint Board just approved an agreement with the Seattle Center Monorail, and so beginning around September, you’ll be able to use the ORCA cards as payment for the two-minute, one-mile ride that heads a few blocks over to Westlake Center.

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Passes and transfers will be accepted, and fares will increase to $2.75 for regular payers, $1.50 for youth ages 6-18, and stay $1.25 for seniors 65 and over, reports Seattle Transit Blog.

Concurrently, the Seattle Center is trying to position the Monorail as a feasible way to shepherd hockey fans to and from Key Arena once Seattle’s NHL team arrives in 2021.

In initially looking at how the Monorail would play a part, the Oak View Group forecasted that a meager 697 fans — of the 17,400 projected Key Arena capacity after renovations — would actually use the Monorail to leave after the game, according to the Seattle Times.

RELATED: Mayor Durkan signs legislation that gives free ORCA cards to students

Planned changes for the Monorail include roomier passenger-waiting zones at Westlake, upgraded fare payment systems, and renovations that would adjust to the light-rail expansion in 2024, when Lynnwood, Federal Way, and Redmond would increase the flow to Westlake.

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