Trip Planner Tips - Fare and transfer information

When your bus trip requires you to transfer, you need to know how to use transfers and when and how to pay your cash fare. This guide describes:

• Using Transfers
• When to pay
• Paying split fares

Using Transfers
If your bus trip involves two or more buses or trains, and you do not pay the full fare with a pass, you need a transfer. Ask for a transfer when you pay your first fare, except that when riding Sounder, your Sounder ticket is your transfer. When your trip uses service provided by two different transit agencies, such as Metro Transit and Sound Transit, you may have to exchange your first transfer for one issued by the other agency when you transfer. You may keep a transfer upon arriving at your destination. See Who's Who for a list of the Transit agencies included in the Trip Planner.

When to pay
Most of the time, show your transfer or pay upon boarding. For Sounder Commuter Rail, you purchase your ticket before boarding. For trips on Metro Transit and Sound Transit Express buses that originate in downtown Seattle between 6:00 AM and 7:00 PM, show your transfer or pay your fare upon leaving the bus. If your trip on Metro travels through downtown during these hours, ask for a transfer when you pay your fare, even if you do not change buses, so you will not be asked to pay again upon leaving the bus.

Paying split fares
In some cases you can pay the full fare all at once, but often you pay part of the fare on the first bus or train, and the rest upon transferring. The trip planner calculates and displays the total fare for the trip, taking into account the transfer policies and fare structures of the various transit agencies. Use the table below to determine how to pay split fares depending on the details of your trip.

If your trip is	During	You should
All on Metro	Off-peak, or Peak in one zone	Pay full fare on first bus.
All on Metro	Peak in two zones	Pay full fare on first bus. If transferring, ask for a two-zone transfer.
All on Community Transit	Any time	Pay the amount due for the portion of the trip on the first vehicle. Ask for a transfer. When transferring from a CT local route to a CT commuter route, pay the additional fare due when you transfer.
All on Everett Transit or Pierce Transit (except Olympia Express)	Any time	Pay full fare on first bus.
On Pierce Transit and Olympia Express	Any time	Pay the amount due for the portion of the trip on the first vehicle. Ask for a transfer and pay the additional fare due when you transfer.
On more than one of the Transit agencies listed in Who's Who	Any time	Pay the amount due for the portion of the trip on the first vehicle. Ask for a transfer or keep your Sounder ticket. On buses, if you paid more than the one-zone fare, ask for a transfer punched for the amount you paid. On subsequent vehicles, show or exchange your transfer and pay additional fare if required. Your new transfer may need to be punched for extra zone travel. Note PT and ET do not have fare zones.
All on ST Express	Any time	Full fare on first bus. If transferring, ask for a transfer punched for the amount you paid (one or two additional zones.)
On ST Express and Sounder commuter rail	Any time	Pay the amount due for the portion of the trip on the first vehicle. Ask for a transfer or keep your Sounder ticket. On buses, if you paid more than the one-zone fare, ask for a transfer punched for the amount you paid. On subsequent vehicles, show or exchange your transfer and pay additional fare if required. Your new transfer may need to be punched for extra zone travel.
On the Monorail and any other transit service	Any time	Pay the Monorail fare in addition to the fare due on other transit. You cannot get a transfer on the Monorail good on other transit, nor can you use a transfer or pass from other transit to pay your Monorail fare.
On transit systems not listed in Who's Who	Any time	The trip planner includes only the transit systems listed in Who's Who.

For more information on paying fares, visit Fares, Passes, Tickets,Transfers and Other Info on Pierce Transit's website.