Changes for employees who ride the bus: WTA bus passes now go on your Western Card

September 10, 2018

Riding the bus is now even easier than ever! Employees' Western ID Cards can now be a WTA bus pass, and employees can purchase a bus pass for the academic year. Quarterly bus passes still only cost $23; the academic year bus pass costs $69.

If you received your Western ID Card before June 28, 2017, you will need to reformat it so that the WTA fare boxes can read it. Stop by the Sustainable Transportation Office in Viking Commons 25 to do this. Please note that our walk-in office hours are from 9 a.m. - 1 p.m. If you need to visit us outside those hours, please call 360-650-7960 to be sure someone will be here to help you.

If you don't have a Western Card or the magnetic strip on your ID is severely worn or scratched, visit the Western Card Office in Edens Hall to get a new ID card. To avoid waiting in a long line of students, take care of this before Sept. 21. In general, mornings are the best time to visit the Western Card Office. New ID's are already formatted to work on the bus.

Some advantages of our new system include:

  1. Employees no longer need a separate bus pass.
  2. Bus passes no longer have to be mailed or picked up.
  3. If you purchase an academic year bus pass, you only have to request a bus pass up to two times a year; once in the fall and again in the summer, if you want a summer quarter bus pass.
  4. The new bus pass is active for a longer period of time. It is active the first day of intersession until the end of the add/drop period in the upcoming quarter.
  5. If your Western ID is lost, damaged, or stolen, you do not have to pay the cost of a new bus pass to replace your bus pass, only the $8 fee to replace your Western Card.

Ready to purchase your bus pass? Here's how.

  1. Submit a “Bus Pass Request Form” e-sign form,or
  2. Fill out a Bus Pass Request Form in person in the Sustainable Transportation Office located in Viking Commons 25. Remember – our walk-in office hours are 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Please contact Jillian Trinkaus if you have any questions. Thank you for riding the bus!