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Syracuse University will offer free bus transportation from campus to major cities to help students travel home for winter break, Rob Hradsky, vice president for the student experience, announced Thursday. 

The university will provide a free bus ride to cities including New York City, Philadelphia, Boston and Washington D.C. starting Saturday. Buses will be “limited in capacity” in accordance with public health guidelines, Hradsky said in an SU News release.

All buses will depart at 10 a.m. outside of Schine Student Center.

SU will also provide transportation to the Syracuse Hancock International Airport and to the Regional Transportation Center. Students who have been exposed to someone with a positive COVID-19 test result and are required to quarantine should not use public transportation, Hradsky said.

The university encourages students to receive a COVID-19 test three days before their departure from campus. SU wil send confirmation of students’ test results to their SU email account and will notify those who test positive by phone.

SU recommends, but does not require, that students wait to get their test results back before leaving campus.

The university confirmed 221 active cases among students and employees in central New York on Thursday.

Students who depart from university housing will no longer need to meet with a staff member in person, Hradsky said. When students depart from campus, they must take items of significant value, pack up and label the rest of their belongings, return their key and take a picture of their room, he said.

“We have already seen the influx of parents and families arriving on campus to pick up their students,” Hradsky said.

Published on November 12, 2020 at 11:03 pm

Contact Abby: akweiss@syr.edu | @abbyweiss_21