SEATTLE NEWS ARCHIVES & FEATURES

How do free ORCA cards and college fit in with affordability?

Feb 20, 2018, 3:46 PM | Updated: 5:29 pm

ORCA cards...

(Dyer Oxley, MyNorthwest)

(Dyer Oxley, MyNorthwest)

On Tuesday, Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan proudly announced that all of the city’s public high school students would get free, unlimited ORCA transit passes through her new plan. She also continued to push for two years of free college tuition for high school graduates.

Durkan’s first STOC address

“We need to make college a reality, for every Seattle public school graduate by investing in two free years of college education and support,” she said during her first State of the City address.

But how do either of those things fit in with the push to make the city more affordable? It’s going to cost millions to pay for those bus passes and make college free to students.

And what is the likelihood that students will even use free bus passes? As soon as they have their license and a car, they don’t want to ride a bus. But they’re still going to get an ORCA card. What percentage of kids will actually use them?

Also, how many of these ORCA cards will be lost and then replaced? Children don’t respect things they don’t have to earn. Will we have to create $100,000 city jobs just to keep track of all these lost ORCA cards?

Seattle is teaching children a horrible lesson: That as long as they vote Democrat, everything will be free.

Taken from Tuesday’s Dori Monson Show.

Homeland Security Investigations officers leave a home after arresting a suspect accused of illegal...

Associated Press

Immigrants seeking US citizenship targeted in Trump administration’s illegal voting crackdown

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Most of the immigrants targeted by federal authorities in California this week for alleged voter fraud had applied for U.S. citizenship and now face charges related to lying on forms or during interviews. Those charges could lead to years in prison and thwart their efforts to naturalize. One of them is […]

2 hours ago

Ramaswamy...

John Curley Show

‘What does it say about the character of the person?’: Curley questions Ramaswamy ad featuring opponent’s mother

KIRO host John Curley is questioning what a recent campaign ad said about Ohio gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy.

3 hours ago

FILE - Flowers and photos are left at a memorial site for Renee Good on Saturday, Jan. 31, 2026, in...

Associated Press

Trump administration stopped sharing evidence in Good and Pretti killings, Minnesota officials say

The federal government has stopped sharing evidence with Minnesota authorities who are investigating the killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti by federal officers, state officials said in recent court filings. Minnesota officials sued President Donald Trump’s administration in March for access to materials they said they needed to independently investigate the shootings during Trump’s […]

4 hours ago

President Donald Trump speaks to reporters before walking to board Marine One on the South Lawn of ...

Associated Press

Trump says he ‘heard something about’ Justice Department probe into longtime ally Corey Lewandowski

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump told reporters that he had “heard something about” the Department of Justice investigating allegations that Corey Lewandowski profited off his past role as an adviser at the Department of Homeland Security, after media reports of an investigation surfaced Thursday. Lewandowski, who worked at the agency as a special government […]

4 hours ago

Seattle University...

James Lynch

Man accused of peering under Seattle University restroom stall held on $75,000 bail

Prosecutors alleged Karl George Allman, 42, looked beneath a restroom stall partition at a woman inside the women’s restroom at Seattle University.

5 hours ago

Ballots...

Nia Bliss, KIRO 7

USPS bins with elections ballots discovered in dumpsters at Seattle’s Golden Gardens

King County Elections (KCE) confirmed two bins with election ballots were found in a dumpster at Seattle’s Golden Gardens this week.

5 hours ago

How do free ORCA cards and college fit in with affordability?