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Washington State Ferries — No Veteran Fare, and a VA Card Will Not Get You the Disability One
The largest ferry system in the country offers no discount to veterans, to Purple Heart recipients, to Medal of Honor recipients or to Gold Star families. The 50 percent disability fare that does exist is real, but Washington State Ferries states plainly that IDs from the Veterans Administration are not accepted as proof of it.
Verified August 23, 2026
What this benefit is
The largest ferry system in the country offers no discount to veterans, to Purple Heart recipients, to Medal of Honor recipients or to Gold Star families. The 50 percent disability fare that does exist is real, but Washington State Ferries states plainly that IDs from the Veterans Administration are not accepted as proof of it.
What it's worth: No veteran fare exists — the route in is the disability fare, and it needs a card the VA does not issue
- This record exists to close a question rather than to pay anything. Nothing in it is a veteran entitlement.
- Washington State Ferries states that "Riders with disabilities may qualify for a 50% discount on passenger fares".
- The accepted proofs the ferry system names are: an ORCA Regional Reduced Fare Permit (RRFP); a Department of Licensing "Individual with Disabilities Parking Privilege" ID card; a Medicare card; a Seattle Flash card; a Washington State Ferries Disability Travel Permit, no longer issued but still accepted; and other regional transit ADA ID cards showing disability.
- The ferry system states in terms that "IDs from the Veteran's Administration and Washington State Parks are not accepted".
- The ferry system’s fare categories page names reduced fares for seniors aged 65 and over and for people with disabilities, and free travel for children and youth under 19. It names no veteran, military, Purple Heart, Medal of Honor or Gold Star category.
- RCW 47.60.315 was read in full this session. It is the statute that governs ferry fares and pricing policies, and it contains no veteran provision: the Transportation Commission adopts fares by rule, and the chief executive officer of the ferry system may authorise promotional, discounted and special event fares to the general public and to commercial enterprises for the purpose of maximising capacity use and revenue.
Who is entitled to it
- Your home is in Washington.
Not sure whether that describes you?
Answer a few questions about this benefit specifically — we only ask what this one actually depends on, and we stop as soon as we know.
From what you have told us so far, you appear to qualify.
How to claim it
- 1Do not travel expecting a veteran discount. There is not one, and the fare page lists the categories that do exist.
- 2If you have a disability, the fare is 50 percent off passenger fares — but bring the right card, because your VA identification card is expressly not accepted.
- 3The Department of Licensing "Individual with Disabilities Parking Privilege" ID card is the state credential that does work. RCW 46.19.010(6) requires the department to issue that card to anyone granted parking privileges, including a veteran qualifying under the 2025 service-animal criterion.
- 4An ORCA Regional Reduced Fare Permit works too, and is worth having anyway because it carries across regional transit.
- 5A Medicare card counts, which is the simplest route for an older veteran.
- 6Buy the discounted ticket in person. The ferry system requires proof of eligibility to be shown, so the discount does not survive an anonymous online purchase.
- 7Children and youth under 19 travel free, which is the provision most likely to matter to a family crossing together.
- Form
- None — this record answers a question rather than opening a claim
- File with
- Washington State Ferries ticket counter, for the disability fare
- No renewal
- Once granted it does not need renewing.
CorrectionThe single most useful fact here is the one nobody publishes: a Veterans Administration identification card is named on the ferry system’s own page as not accepted. Veterans turn up at the counter with it and are charged the full fare.
Worth knowingThe two Washington records in this batch fit together. Qualify for parking privileges under RCW 46.19.010 and the Department of Licensing must issue you the identification card that the ferry system does accept.
Known gapWhether any individual route, or the Transportation Commission’s fare rules in the Washington Administrative Code, carries a veteran provision was not checked this session. The statute delegates fares to rule, so the rule is the next place to look.
Sources
- authority · agencyWashington State Department of Transportation, Washington State Ferries — Reduced fares for people with disabilities (read 23 August 2026: "Riders with disabilities may qualify for a 50% discount on passenger fares"; accepted identification listed as the ORCA Regional Reduced Fare Permit (RRFP), the Department of Licensing "Individual with Disabilities Parking Privilege" ID card, a Medicare card, a Seattle Flash card, a Washington State Ferries Disability Travel Permit no longer issued but still accepted, and other regional transit ADA ID cards showing disability; and stating that "IDs from the Veteran's Administration and Washington State Parks are not accepted")
- operating · statuteRCW 47.60.315, Fares and pricing policies — Adoption schedule — Revenues — Vessel replacement surcharges (read in full 23 August 2026 to establish an absence: the commission adopts fares and pricing policies by rule under chapter 34.05 RCW on an annual schedule; subsection (4) permits the chief executive officer of the ferry system to authorise promotional, discounted and special event fares "to the general public and commercial enterprises for the purpose of maximizing capacity use and the revenues collected by the ferry system"; subsections (7) and (8) impose vessel replacement surcharges of 75 cents rising to 85 cents from October 1, 2027 and 95 cents from October 1, 2029; the section contains no veteran, military or decoration-based fare provision) [2025 c 417 s 401; 2025 c 416 s 715; 2023 c 472 s 714; 2021 c 333 s 716; 2019 c 431 s 3; 2011 1st sp.s. c 16 s 3; 2007 c 512 s 6]
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