Hudson Valley Students Might Have to Pay for School Busing

Correction This article, headline and featured image has been updated to reflect that the busing of students in the City of Poughkeepsie takes place on public transit buses, not school buses. This article has also been updated to include a statement from Dutchess County Communications Director Colleen T. Pillus.

The free rides will end on July 1, 2019.

If you have kids in the City of Poughkeepsie School District a big change is coming to the use of public transportation as Dutchess County Public Transportation has announced online that City of Poughkeepsie Middle and High School Students, will now have to pay to ride the bus.

Up until July 1, any children who were enrolled in the City schools were able to ride the buses for free but that all changes starting on the 1st of July. Children will now have to pay a reduced student fare of 75¢ on every Dutchess County Public Transit bus and run according to the announcement online. According to Dutchess County Communications Director Colleen T. Pillus, the City of Poughkeepsie School district had a contract that allowed district students to ride Dutchess County Public Transit buses at no charge but that contract is set to expire.

Most schools in the City of Poughkeepsie school district do not have buses to take kids to and from school and as of now, there is no word on how that will affect next school year for students.

For more information about the transportation changes you can call 845-473-8424 or go to the Public Transit website.

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