POUGHKEEPSIE – Should the Poughkeepsie Common Council decide to relinquish operation of its bus service, Dutchess County would pick it up. That from County Executive Marcus Molinaro, who made the commitment during his 2017 budget presentation speech Thursday evening.
Molinaro’s proposal includes expanding public transportation, adding Sunday bus services, a new route, service later into the evenings and supporting the City of Poughkeepsie should it end funding for its transit service next year.
Poughkeepsie Mayor Robert Rolison, who initially proposed integration
of the bus service, said he was happy to see the county executive announce
the county would take over the city operations if the city agrees.
Rolison said it will be necessary to sustain the public transit system
within the city.
“We need a more efficient transit system,” said Rolison. “We can’t get there where we are right now. We don’t have the financial capabilities to move our system in the direction that we want to. It makes no sense to have two systems within one county. The City of Poughkeepsie does not need to be in the transit business.”
Rolison added that the move would create the opportunity for an improved system. The mayor said the main reason to transfer operations to the county is that the city just doesn’t have the money to sustain the service.
“I don’t think anybody, anywhere can look at the City of Poughkeepsie budget and say we’ve got money to expand services,” said Rolison. “We’re struggling to maintain our basic core services and the one that we can consolidate and integrate is transit.”
Early reaction to a county takeover has met with resistance from city residents, who have addressed the common council, as well as council members themselves. Many Poughkeepsie residents say the city buses are much more rider-friendly than the county system.
