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Regional Reduced Fare Permit
Purpose
The Regional Reduced Fare Permit (RRFP) allows disabled persons and senior citizens age 65 and older to ride for a reduced fare on various public transit systems throughout the Puget Sound region. There is more information in the RRFP brochure, including eligibility, how it works and which agencies participate.
To Obtain a Permit
Print and Review the RRFP application. You can also request an application by calling 425-257-7777 or by visiting Everett Transit's Customer Service Center. The entrance is located on the southeast side of Everett Station facing the bus bays. Your first RRFP card is issued for free, replacement cards are $3.
It is advised that Seniors and medicare users obtain a RRFP, as it offers many benefits, but it is not required. Customers will need to show ID for verification of age 65 and older, or their medicare card.
Regional Reduced Fare Permit | Information & Application
- Regional Reduced Fare Permit Information & Application [English]
- Regional Reduced Fare Permit Information & Application [Spanish] @(Model.BulletStyle == CivicPlus.Entities.Modules.Layout.Enums.BulletStyle.Decimal ? "ol" : "ul")>
What is it?
The Regional Reduced Fare Permit simplifies travel for senior and disabled riders of public transportation around Puget Sound. The following public transportation systems in the Puget Sound region recognize this identification card:
• Clallam Transit • Community Transit • Everett Transit • Intercity Transit • Jefferson Transit • King County Metro Transit • King County Water Taxi • Kitsap Transit • Mason Transit • Pierce County Ferries • Pierce Transit • Skagit Transit • Sound Transit • Washington State Ferries • Whatcom Transportation Authority
With the Regional Reduced Fare Permit, eligible persons do not need to carry more than one permit to receive the reduced-fare benefits of multiple systems within the region.
Who is eligible?
Any person who presents proof of one or more of the following conditions can obtain a Regional Reduced Fare Permit (the agencies reserve the right to contact your Health Care Provider for verification).
Permanent Permit:
1. Is at least 65 years of age.
2. Is currently certified by the Veterans Health Administration at a 40% or greater disability level.
Temporary Permit:
1. Is now eligible for Social Security Disability Benefits or now receives Supplemental Security Income Benefits because of disability.
2. Has a valid Medicare card issued by the Social Security Administration.
3. Has a valid ADA Paratransit card from outside the region.
4. Is currently participating in a vocational career program with the Washington State Individual Educational Program (IEP).
5. Has a Washington Department of Licensing issued disabled parking identification in conjunction with a government issued photo identification.
Permanent or Temporary Permit (case-by-case):
1. Has a valid Regional ADA Paratransit card.
2. Has obvious physical impairments meeting one or more of the medical criteria listed to the right.
3. Is certified by a Washington state-licensed Physician (M.D.), Psychiatrist, Psychologist (Ph.D.), Physician’s Assistant (P.A.), Advanced Registered Nurse Practitioner (A.R.N.P.), Audiologist certified by the American Speech–Language–Hearing Association, or Osteopathic Physician (D.O.) as meeting one or more of the medical criteria listed to the right.
Where is it issued?
Any eligible person may apply for a Regional Reduced Fare Permit at the customer service offices of any of the participating transit agencies. King County Ferry District, Pierce County Ferries, Sound Transit and Washington State Ferries do not issue the permits but will honor those issued by any of the other systems.
How long is it valid?
Permits issued to persons 65 or older and to persons permanently disabled will be valid indefinitely. No renewal is necessary. Persons with disabilities that will last up to five years may receive temporary permits. If documentation does not include an expiration date, the RRFP will be valid for three years. These permits, which carry an expiration date, may be renewed only if the disability continues beyond that date. Persons certified by approved health care providers as permanently disabled may receive permanent permits. Participating agencies retain the right to ask for certification upon loss of a permit or at any other time.
What does it cost?
There is no fee to obtain a new permit. Replacement permits may be obtained from the issuing agency for $3.00. How does it work? The permit is an identification card used as proof of eligibility to pay a reduced fare. The permit has no cash value. If using ORCA, standard ORCA transfer rules apply. The permit holder must pay the amount of the reduced fare on each system used, and use of the permit is subject to any time restrictions in effect by each system.
Non-Ambulatory Disabilities
1. Wheelchair User
Impairments which, regardless of cause, confine individuals to wheelchairs.
Semi-Ambulatory Physical Disabilities
1. Restricted Mobility
Impairments which cause individuals to walk with difficulty including, but not limited to, individuals using a long leg brace, a walker or crutches to achieve mobility, or birth defects and other muscular/ skeletal disabilities, including dwarfism, causing mobility restriction. Persons currently undergoing chemotherapy or radiation treatment are considered eligible for a reduced fare permit under this subsection.
2. Arthritis
Persons who suffer from arthritis causing a function motor defect in any two major limbs. (American Rheumatism Association criteria may be used as a guideline for the determination of arthritic handicap; Therapeutic Grade III, Functional Class III, or Anatomical State III or worse is evidence of arthritic handicap.)
3. Loss of Extremities
Persons who suffer anatomical deformity of or amputation of both hands, one hand and one foot, or lower extremity at or above the tarsal region. Loss of major function may be due to degenerative changes associated with vascular or neurological deficiencies, traumatic loss of muscle mass or tendons, bony or fibrous ankylosis at unfavorable angle, or joint subluxation or instability.
4. Cerebrovascular Accident
Persons displaying one of the following, four months post-CVA: a. Pseudobulbar palsy; or b. Functional motor defect in any two extremities; or c. Ataxia affecting two extremities substantiated by appropriate cerebellar signs or proprioceptive loss.
5. Respiratory
Person suffering respiratory impairment (dyspnea) of Class 3 or greater as defined by “Guidelines to the Evaluation of Permanent Impairment: The Respiratory System,” Journal of the American Medical Association, 194:919 (1965).
6. Cardiac
Persons suffering functional classification III or IV and therapeutic classifications C, D, or E cardiac disease as defined by Diseases of the Heart and Blood Vessels — Nomenclature and Criteria for Diagnosis, New York Heart Assoc. (6th Edition).
7. Dialysis
Persons who must use a kidney dialysis machine in order to live.
8. Disorders of Spine
Persons disabled by one or more of the following:
a. Fracture of vertebra, residuals or, with cord involvement with appropriate motor and sensory loss; or
b. Generalized osteoporosis with pain, limitation of back motion, paravertebral muscle spasms, and compression fracture of vertebra; or
c. Ankylosis or fixation of cervical or dorsolumbar spine at 30 degrees or more of flexion measured from the neutral position and one of the following:
i. Calcification of the anterior and alteral ligaments as shown by x-ray; or
ii. Dilateral ankylosis of sacroiliac joints and abnormal apophseal articulation as shown by x-ray.
9. Nerve Root Compression Syndrome.
A person disabled due to any cause by:
a. Pain and motion limitation in back of neck; and
b. Cervical or lumbar nerve root compression as evidenced by appropriate radicular distribution of sensory, motor and reflex abnormalities.
10. Motor.
Persons disabled by one or more of the following:
a. Faulty coordination or palsy from brain, spinal, or peripheral nerve injury; or
b. A functional motor deficit in any two limbs; or
c. Manifestations significantly reducing mobility, coordination, and perceptiveness not accounted for in prior categories.
11. HIV Disease.
A person disabled by HIV disease who meets Social Security eligibility criteria or who meets Washington State (GAU/Welfare) medical criteria.
Visual Disabilities
1. Persons disabled because of:
a. Visual acuity of 20/200 or less in the better eye with correcting lenses; or
b. Contraction of the visual field:
i. So the widest diameter of visual field subtending an angular distance is no greater than 20 degrees; or
ii. To 10 degrees or less from the point of fixation; or
iii. To 20% or less visual field efficiency.
2. Persons who, by reason of visual impairment, do not qualify for a Driver’s License under regulations of the Washington State Department of Motor Vehicles.
Hearing Disabilities
1. Persons disabled because of hearing impairments manifested by one or more of the following: a. Better ear pure tone average of 90 dB HL (unaided) for tones at 500, 1,000, 2,000 Hz; or b. Best speech discrimination score at or below 40% (unaided) as measured with standardized testing materials.
2. Eligibility may be certified by a physician licensed by the State of Washington or by an audiologist certified by the American Speech– Language–Hearing Association.
Neurological Disabilities
1. Epilepsy.
a. Persons who have suffered any seizure with loss of awareness within the last 6 months.
b. Persons exhibiting seizure-free control for a continuous period of more than six months duration are not included in the statement of epilepsy defined in this section.
2. Neurological Handicap.
A person disabled by cerebral palsy, multiple sclerosis, muscular dystrophy, or other neurological and physical impairments not controlled by medication.
Mental Disabilities
1. Developmental Disabilities — Permanent Permit
Persons disabled due to intellectual disability, autism or other conditions found to be closely associated with intellectual disability or to require treatment similar to that required by intellectually disabled individuals and:
a. The disability originates before such individual attains age 18;
b. The condition has continued, or can be expected to continue, indefinitely;
c. The condition substantially limits one or more major life activities on an ongoing basis.
2. Adult Cognition Impairments — Permanent Permit
Persons whom by reason of traumatic brain injury, illness or other accident occurring after age 18 experience ongoing impairment(s) in cognition that substantially limit(s) one or more major life activities, including individuals who meet SSA, SSI, or SSDI eligibility criteria.
3. Serious Persistent (Chronic) Mental Illness — Permanent Permit
Individuals with a mental illness with symptoms chronic in nature who experience a significant limitation in their ability to take part in major life activities and who meet one of the following:
a. Having a mental disorder diagnosis based on criteria in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM);
b. Living in a group/boarding home setting, receiving state or federal financial assistance and participating in a state or federally funded work activity center or workshop;
c. Permanently placed in a supervised or supported living arrangement;
d. Addressing mental health needs by participating in any training/ rehabilitation program or therapy established under federal, state, county, Regional Support Network (RSN), or city government agency.
4. Serious Mental Illness (Acute at-risk) — Temporary Permit
Individuals with a mental illness who are currently experiencing a significant limitation in their ability to take part in major life activities and who meet one of the following:
a. Having a mental disorder diagnosis based on criteria in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM);
b. Living in a group/boarding home setting, receiving state or federal financial assistance and participating in a state or federally funded work activity center or workshop;
c. Living at home under supervision and participating in a state or federally funded state or federal work activity center or workshop;
d. Addressing mental health needs by participating in any training/ rehabilitation program or therapy established under federal, state, county, Regional Support Network (RSN), or city government agency.
Contact Us
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Customer Service
Everett Transit
3201 Smith Ave.
Everett, WA 98201Phone: 425-257-7777
TTY: 711
Fax: 425-257-7770
Email the DepartmentCustomer Service Center Hours
Monday - Friday
7:30 to 3:30 p.m.
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Monday - Friday
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