Laketran extends service hours for holidays to improve job access and shopping

Extended Holiday Hours operate Monday, November 7-December 31
Local Routes 1-6: Monday-Friday 6am – 10pm and Saturdays 8am – 9pm
Dial-a-Ride: Monday-Friday 5am – 10pm and Saturdays 8am – 7pm

Download Holiday Schedule here

Lake County, OH—On Monday, September 26, 2016, Laketran’s Board of Trustees announced Laketran will provide additional late night service for local route bus and Dial-a-Ride service for the holiday season. The extended service hours will operate from Monday, November 7, 2016 through Saturday, December 31, 2016 and include a full day of service on Veterans Day, which is federally observed on Friday, November 11, 2016 this year.

The extended hours temporarily restore late night and Saturday service cuts from the Great Recession, which resulted in significant loss in sales tax revenue.  In 2015, Laketran secured funding to restore Saturday Dial-a-Ride and then Local Routes 1-6 for a minimum of two years, but late night service has not yet been fully restored.

“Recovery is a slow process, but through prudent budgeting, we have found a means to bring service back to the community – even if it’s only temporary.  We feel that restoring bus service during the holiday season best serve the community to increase access to holiday job opportunities and encourage shopping in Lake County,” explained Ray Jurkowski, Laketran’s general manager.

“About sixty percent of our riders use the bus to get to work and many of our riders are employed at local retail and restaurant businesses who can work later hours during the holiday season,” explains Laketran spokesperson Julia Schick. “The additional service allows all our customers to work and shop later locally whether they use local routes or Dial-a-Ride and by operating on Veterans Day, Park-n-Ride riders get an additional day of service into Cleveland.”

During holiday hours, Local Routes 1-6 will extend service from 8:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. on weeknights and add Saturday service from 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. operating every two hours. Dial-a-Ride service will operate weeknights until 10:00 p.m. and on Saturdays from 8:00 a.m. until 7:00 p.m. with ADA Dial-a-Ride service available until 9:00 p.m.