Go Redmond educates and inspires the community to embrace a culture of walking, biking, ridesharing, and transit in Redmond
Youth Ride Transit for Free
Tag: transit
Transit, including light rail, is free for riders 18 and younger thanks to Move Ahead Washington, a statewide transportation funding package. All youth ages 6-18 qualify for a free Youth ORCA card that can be used for rides on all participating transit agencies, including Metro and Sound Transit.
Youth ORCA cards can be requested online and mailed to your home address (proof of age, such as a student ID card, required) or at an ORCA neighborhood pop-up location. Youth without an ORCA card can present their Student ID to the driver as they board and to any transit official upon request. Using a Youth ORCA card allows transit agencies to better understand how many young people are riding transit, including where and when.
Parents, are your teens ready to ride transit on their own? Remind them of these general rules before they head out:
Be aware of your surroundings
Be courteous and respectful of other riders
Use headphones and keep music and videos at a low volume
Share your location with a parent/guardian
For teens ready to ride transit independently, it’s as easy as 1, 2, 3!
Plan your trip: Plan your trip to find the best route(s) and track your upcoming bus or light rail arrival. Use Metro’s trip planning tools (or Google Maps) to find the best route and schedule for your day. Arrive at your stop a few minutes early. Always have a plan for how you will return home, too.
Tap your Youth ORCA card: Tap your ORCA card on the card reader inside when boarding the bus, or on the dock or platform before boarding light rail. If you don’t have an ORCA card, youth can always just get on board.
Be ready for your stop: On buses, pull the yellow cord or press a red stop button when approaching your stop to alert the driver. Exit through the bus’s back doors, if possible. Light rail trains stop at all scheduled stops, so be ready to get off when your stop is next.
Overlake School Students in 7th and 8th grades wrote a blog for teens riding the 2 Line. Check out their notes and recommendations for things to do here.
King County Metro and Sound Transit have been preparing for light rail by adjusting bus routes to better serve these stations. Below is a list of stations in Redmond and information on which buses serve each of these locations.
203 parking spaces are available at the Overlake Village Park & Ride (2560 152nd Ave NE, Redmond, WA 98052) which is a 6 minute/.3 mile walk from the light rail station.
Redmond has more ways to get around than ever before—and not all of them involve driving alone. All these options can be confusing for the unfamiliar, so Go Redmond is here to help break it down.
Whether you’re commuting to work, heading to light rail, or running errands around town, there’s likely a transportation option that fits your trip, schedule, and budget. Here’s a quick guide to help you choose what works best.
Metro Flex: On-demand, flexible transit when fixed bus routes don't work well
Metro Flex is an on-demand, shared ride service like a public Uber that operates within a defined zone. You request a ride via app or phone, walk to a nearby pickup point, and share the ride with others.
In Redmond, this is currently only available in the Overlake neighborhood.
Costs the same as a bus fare (typically $3 adult)
If you use your ORCA card, you can transfer for free to or from a bus or light rail.
Open to the general public in service zones
Designed for short local trips and first/last mile connections to transit
MetroFlex’s Redmond service area is in the Overlake neighborhood
Community Van: Community-organized group trips where transit doesn’t exist
Community Van is a pre-scheduled, group-based service coordinated by a local partner (in Redmond, that is Hopelink). Community Van provides six-passenger and 12-passenger vans for prescheduled trips. Destinations can be anywhere within a two-hour drive of Redmond and can occur any day of the week 24 hours a day.
Costs the same as a Metro bus fare ($3; youth free)
Open to anyone, but requires:
At least 2 riders
Advance booking (≥2 days)
Trips are driven by volunteer drivers who must first complete a short training
Lime and Bird electric bikes and scooters are ridden past Metro buses on May 1, 2025 for Bike Everywhere Month in Seattle, Wa.
Bike or scoot your way to light rail and earn rewards along the way! Rent a Lime bike or scooter, ride to a transit hub, park in designated spots and earn rewards from King County Metro.
You can earn free scooter rentals and transit trips when you take a Lime scooter or bike to get to a light rail station in Redmond.
STEP 1 – Download and link accounts
Download the Lime and Transit GO Ticket apps and create accounts. Then connect all accounts.
STEP 2 – Earn points
Bike or scoot to transit. Remember, your trip must last at least 15 minutes or a minimum of a quarter mile. Park at the preferred parking spots, as shown in the app, and end your trip on the app.
STEP 3 – Redeem your points
You will receive a Lime notification. Next, open up the Transit GO Ticket app and check your rewards balance. You should have received 300 points for parking correctly. Redeem your points for a free-transit trip worth $3. Must be used within 24-hours.
Activate your transit ticket (for a King County Metro bus, Sound Transit bus or Link light rail) within 24 hours. You will receive 700 points which can then be redeemed for $7 off a future bike or scooter rental. To redeem these points, input the code into your Lime app.
Area Transit Providers to Accept Credit and Debit Cards, Digital Wallets as Fare Payment
On February 23, ORCA is launching a new Tap to Pay feature allowing riders to use credit and debit cards, and digital wallets, to pay for transit across the Puget Sound region.
Riders can simply tap their contactless Visa, Mastercard, Discover® Network, or American Express credit or debit cards, or cards in digital wallets, using Apple Pay™, Google Pay™, or Samsung Pay™ to ride. This new feature expands access to public transportation and supports seamless travel experiences for both daily riders and visitors alike.
This new feature also comes as Seattle and the Puget Sound region prepare to host several large events in 2026. With many international visitors expected to travel across the region, Tap to Pay simplifies transit and aligns with global expectations for convenient payment options.
“The addition of Tap to Pay is a major milestone for transit in King County,” said King County Executive Girmay Zahilay. “It brings our system into the modern era and makes everyday trips more convenient for riders while opening the door for more people to choose transit. As we prepare to welcome the world to our region this summer, visitors will be able to explore King County with the same seamless experience.”
“Making transit an easier choice is fundamental to everything we do at Sound Transit,” said Sound Transit Chief Executive Officer Dow Constantine. “Adding Tap to Pay as a fare option increases rider convenience and helps occasional riders get on board.”
“Adding Tap to Pay is a major step forward in how our region moves people and delivers on our commitment to making Puget Sound a modern, transit-friendly destination,” said Christina O’Claire, ORCA Joint Board Chair and King County Metro Mobility Division Director. “By giving visitors the ability to tap and ride using the cards they already carry, ORCA is removing barriers and creating a welcoming and inclusive transit experience. This launch ensures our regional transit system is easy to use and benefits both residents and the global community we’re preparing to host.”
How the new Tap to Pay feature works:
Riders can pay for transit with most contactless-enabled credit or debit cards with a contactless symbol, , or with digital credit or debit cards via Apple Pay, Google Pay, or Samsung Pay, by tapping their cards or smart devices on ORCA card readers.
ORCA cards will still be issued and accepted across the region on buses, trains, and ferries. ORCA cards continue to provide the most cost-effective, convenient benefits for many riders across the region, especially those enrolled in free or reduced fare programs such as ORCA LIFT, Senior RRFP, Disabled RRFP, Youth, and those with employer or organization sponsored ORCA cards.
Contactless payments through ORCA are not accepted on:
Seattle Monorail
Washington State Ferries
King County Metro DART, Community Vans, Metro Flex
Community Transit DART, Zip Shuttle
Pierce Transit SHUTTLE, Pierce Transit Runner
Everett Transit Paratransit
Some of these services may offer other ways to pay using contactless payments outside of the ORCA system. Tap to Pay will soon be available on Kitsap Transit Fast Ferries, Foot Ferries, and King County Water Taxi.
Riders paying with contactless credit or debit cards are charged an adult fare and will still receive the ORCA 2-hour transfer window benefit, allowing for seamless transfers across Puget Sound, as they do today.
Riders cannot receive discounts (Senior, Youth, ORCA LIFT, Disabled) or passes. Riders with ORCA cards that receive discounts are encouraged to keep tapping their existing ORCA cards.
Customers will not be able to pay for multiple riders or groups using one card or device. Every rider will need their own payment method.
Cards need to be tapped directly on the ORCA card readers. Riders should remove physical cards from their wallets before tapping to avoid unwanted charges on other cards or tap failures.
If you have both an ORCA card and a credit or debit card in Google Wallet™, the card reader should default to charging your digital ORCA card when tapped. If you wish to use a digital credit or debit card, select that form of payment on your smart device before tapping.
For Apple Pay users with Express Mode enabled, riders can simply hold their iPhone or Apple Watch near a card reader to ride transit across the Puget Sound Region — without having to unlock or wake up their device. And with power reserve, if their iPhone needs to be charged, they can still use it to ride transit.
Riders who tap with a contactless payment method may be subject to fare inspection on some services. Fare inspectors will not scan credit or debit cards; however, they will ask Tap to Pay riders to share the last 4 digits of their card number to confirm fare was paid. This allows fare inspectors to input the last 4 digits of the card used to confirm that the fare transaction occurred. More information on how fare inspection will work can be found here: https://info.myorca.com/contactless/#fareinspectionGo to https://info.myorca.com/contactless/#fareinspection
ORCA cards remain the best option for many, but this enhancement to the ORCA Product suite makes riding transit easier than ever for all types of riders.
Image courtesy of Sound Transit.
“The completion of the 2 Line exponentially expands employment, housing and recreation opportunities for people on the east and west sides of Lake Washington,” King County Executive and Sound Transit Boadmember Girmay Zahilay. “When the 2 Line opens, it will serve 26 stations and more than 35 miles, while knitting together first King County cities and two Snohomish County cities, creating new transit hubs throughout the region.”
Sound Transit announced that the Crosslake connection will open for riders on March 28th. This is the final segment of the 2 Line which will cross Lake Washington and connect with the 1 Line at International District/Chinatown Station, creating a fully integrated regional light rail system. This new addition to the East Link included two new stations, Mercer Island and Judkins Park.
The 2 Line will operate between Lynnwood and Redmond in addition to the 1 Line between Federal Way and Lynnwood. Service will run on the 1 and 2 Lines from 5 a.m. to 1 a.m. Monday-Saturday and from 6 a.m-midnight on Sundays. Trains will run every 8 minutes during peak times at the new stations and between 10-15 minutes the rest of the day. Combined 1 Line and 2 Line headways between Lynnwood and International District/Chinatown will be every 4 minutes, providing addtional capacity through the busy core of the system.
To keep up with opening day events and details visit https://www.soundtransit.org/crosslake This link will be updated as plans continue to be finalized. Check back often to stay up to date.
Do you have questions about transit? Are you in need of a new ORCA card?
King County Metro’s Neighborhood Pop-Up Program returns to Redmond this month on a regular schedule. On the second Tuesday of each month King County Metro staff will set up at the Redmond Library (15990 NE 85th St. Redmond, WA) and on the fourth Tuesday of each month they will be at the Redmond Senior & Community Center (8703 160th Ave NE. Redmond, WA) from 1:30 p.m.-3:30 p.m.
During pop-up events community members can get new ORCA cards, add fare to existing ORCA cards, replace lost or damaged ORCA cards, get new senior and disabled Regional Reduced Fare Permits, and register free youth ORCA cards. Staff will be onsite to answer any questions you have about Metro services.
Marymoor Village and Downtown Redmond light rail stations will open on Saturday, May 10! Join Go Redmond in celebrating at the Downtown Redmond Station (16220 NE 76th St. Redmond, WA 98052).
Downtown Redmond Station Program
10:30 a.m.- noon: Speakers and ribbon cutting.
Noon- 4 p.m.: Community celebration with music, dancing, bike rides, crafts, and more!
Microsoft will provide shuttles between parking at Redmond Technology Station and Marymoor Village Station every 15 minutes from 9 a.m. until service begins around noon, before the trains are service, to get people parked and to the to the Downtown Redmond Station for the ribbon cutting.
Getting There
Light Rail
Light rail trains will begin service at Downtown Redmond and Marymoor Village shortly after the ribbon cutting is complete at noon. After the ribbon is cut passengers can take light rail from any of the stations along the 2 Line into Downtown Redmond.
Festivities are both on the Redmond Central Connector Trail near the Downtown Redmond Station and at Marymoor Village, which is 1.5 miles away along the Redmond Central Connector Trail. Explore the Redmond Trail Map and the interactive Redmond Bike Map to plan your route on foot or on wheels.
There is plenty of bike parking on site to safely leave your wheels behind while you celebrate.
