When the regional ORCA card replaces the Husky Card U-Pass, free rides will become a thing of the past. Starting next spring, the University of Washington will replace the U-Pass sticker with the same smart-chip technology included in the regional smart card.
Susan Bregman is editor of The Transit Wire. She has been a consultant on transit policy and planning for fifteen years and before that worked for the Boston Transportation Department. In 2004 she founded Oak Square Resources, LLC, which focuses on transit research, policy, and communications.