Student Fare Free Program

Sunset Empire Transportation District (SETD) has announced that they will begin offering a fare free student transportation program in Clatsop County starting on January 6, 2020. The program will provide fare free transportation for all students K-12 on all routes within Clatsop County. “Our STIF funding requires that 1% of that funding be dedicated to transportation for students grades 9 to 12.” Executive Director Hazen explained. Hazen continued saying “We want to do more than that and extend the fare free service to grades K-12 because someday these kids will graduate and some will be going to college and they will already be experienced in using public transportation before they leave home.”  Some of the grants SETD receives are based on ridership so the additional ridership could also potentially help with those grants. The current enrollment in Clatsop County schools exceeds 5,100 students. “We are hopeful that this fare free program will reduce the barriers that some students face when wanting to participate in all school activities.” Hazen added. SETD will be working very closely with the schools to get the message out to students and parents about this new program. For more information contact Executive Director Jeff Hazen and [email protected] or 503-861-5399.