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Comment by loeg | Hacker News Reader

There are transit systems that literally do not accept cash. The light rail trains, trolleys, and to some extent BRT all come to mind in Seattle.

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Seattleite here. This is false. You can pay for all of the services you named with cash.

You have to buy an Orca card with cash, then pay the fare with the Orca card. It's indirect, and any remaining balance isn't in your pocket. The point is: you can't pay cash at boarding.

You don't have to buy an ORCA card. The ticket machines dispense both paper tickets and ORCA cards. The ORCA cards cost $5, so most tourists opt for paper tickets instead.

No, you don't have to buy an ORCA card. You can buy a paper ticket for the exact fare at a ticket vending machine, which are available at every Link station.

You can pay with cash at all of the link stations. The ticket machines will take cash and dispense a paper ticket.

And you can totally pay cash on the RapidRide buses, you just have to board via the front door of the bus. (If you pay with an ORCA card you can board via the back door if you want to, but if you're paying cash you have to board normally).

The light rail and trolleys in Seattle do accept cash at Westlake and similar large stations. Busses do as well...

You cannot board the light rail (nor BRT) and present cash. You have to buy an Orca card first, which are available in various locations, but chiefly, none of those locations are inside the light rail or BRT.

Ticket vending machines, which sell both ORCA cards and fare tickets, are available at every light rail station.

For BRT, you can pay cash at the time of boarding.

You can pay with cash at the ticket machines at all of the link stations, not just Westlake/large stations.

You can buy an orca card for $5 and then add money on it at multiple places.

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