Take our small business and transit survey to help us understand your transportation needs!

City staff conduct outreach to small business owners about transit options in the Othello and Rainier Beach neighborhoods. Credit: SDOT

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We are committed to supporting small businesses and their workers through accessible transit. Take our short survey by June 30 to be entered into a drawing for a $25 e-gift card!

At-a-glance:

Our Transportation Access Programs (TAP) team wants to make it easier for small business owners in the food service, grocery, retail, and personal care industries to provide their employees with free or low-cost transit benefits.
Help us explore the options: Tell us about your transit needs by taking a short survey!
Remember to share the survey and encourage your coworkers and fellow business owners to complete it by June 30!
Learn more about how our programs provide affordable, safe, and equitable access to public transportation.
Thank you for sharing your feedback!

Our Transportation Access Programs (TAP) team is exploring options to reduce costs for small businesses to offer their employees a free transit benefit in the food service, grocery, retail, and personal care industries. We invite small business owners, managers, and employees to tell us about their transit needs and provide feedback on employee transit program options by June 30.

Click on a link below to take our short survey in your preferred language:

If you or someone you know needs help filling out our survey, email DOT_TAP@seattle.gov or call/text us at (206) 256-6722.

Completing the survey only takes a couple of minutes and when you’re done, you’ll be entered into a drawing for a $25 Safeway gift card! Remember to share the survey and encourage your coworkers and fellow business owners to complete it by June 30!

Why are we surveying the community?

We understand how important an employee transit benefit can be to both workers and small businesses. Our Recovery Card Program was launched in 2021 to provide food service and grocery workers in four neighborhoods with fully subsidized ORCA cards. This program sees the highest ridership rates of all TAP programs.

In a recent survey, participants told us how vital access to transit has been, and how it has helped them stay on top of bills, keep jobs, enjoy the city, and ride transit more even if they own a car.

A person holds up two ORCA cards in front of the Link light rail University Street Station platform. Credit: SDOT

Hearing this feedback from community, we’re even more committed to exploring options for a program that would help more workers access transit across the city. Many people do not live where they work and transit acts as a lifeline to work opportunities, friends and family, school, groceries, medical appointments, and other places of daily life.

We’re excited to receive your feedback on how to best serve our community!

What is TAP?

Our Transportation Access Programs (TAP) provide affordable, safe, and equitable access to public transportation by providing transit resources and community-centered programming to diverse Seattle communities. This programming is funded through the Seattle Transit Measure (STM), a voter-approved sales tax funding transit service and access programs through 2027.

Six members of our TAP and Community Liaison teams pose in a line in front of an SDOT table covered in informational flyers outside the UW Othello Commons. — *TAP team members and community liaisons visit the Othello community to talk about transit and the Recovery Card program. Credit: SDOT*

Click on the links below to learn more about some of the other great TAP programs that help make equitable access to safe, affordable transit in Seattle a reality:

Youth Ambassadors: SDOT has partnered with the Human Services Department’s Seattle Youth Employment Program (SYEP) to engage BIPOC youth leaders in Seattle to empower themselves and their communities towards accessible, environmentally sustainable, and affordable transportation through leadership training.
The Seattle Housing Authority (SHA) Transit Pass: A partnership between SHA and SDOT. SHA residents who live in an SHA-owned and managed property are eligible to receive an unlimited-use ORCA card to take transit at no cost.
Promise Scholars: Our Promise Scholars Program provides fully subsidized ORCA cards to all participants of the Seattle Colleges college tuition and success program, Seattle Promise Scholars.
Solid Ground Downtown Circulator: A free, fixed-route shuttle bus that connects riders to various health and human service providers downtown. It is a free, ADA accessible service for everyone. There are no eligibility requirements, and you do not need a ticket to ride the Circulator.

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