By Matt Skrajner, The News-Herald | POSTED:
Laketran recently celebrated four decades of providing transportation to Lake County residents.
On Dec. 23, 1974, Lake County Commissioners Robert Martin, John Platz and Michael Coffey founded Laketran, although the name was not adopted until 1979.
What started out as a few borrowed buses, including a double-decker from across the pond, has now grown into a fleet of nearly 40 buses and more than 70 paratransit vans that traveled 3.3 million miles and served more than 750,000 riders in 2014.
The bus system houses the vehicles at its Painesville Township headquarters, where the vehicles are washed daily and are serviced by in-house mechanics.
From commuter express buses that carry Lake County residents to downtown Cleveland jobs and seniors or those with disabilities that use the Dial-a-Ride service to reach retail stores or doctor appointments, customers of all ages depend on the service.
“We’re the thread that weaves the fabric of the community together,” said Ray Jurkowski, general manager of Laketran. “I can’t think of anything that we don’t connect… You name it, we’re probably getting someone there.”
Laketran began to really expand in 1988 with the passage of a quarter percent sales tax levy. The levy has been renewed ever since and accounts for 60 percent of Laketran’s budget. The levy also has not increased in the 27 years since its inception, Jurkowski said.
The 2008 economic collapse greatly hurt this revenue, which resulted in some services being cut. Laketran did work to find alternative revenue sources to minimize the cuts, but some were unavoidable in order to balance the budget. That year began a streak of 22 straight months of sales tax revenue being less than what it was for the same month the year prior, Jurkowski said.
Additionally, since 2000, the funding assistance from the state government to public transit has decreased 63 percent, according to a recent Ohio Department of Transportation study. Put simply, funding has not kept up with demand, Jurkowski said.
“The need just gets larger and larger,” he said. “The community is aging.”
To mark future anniversaries, Laketran is banking on expanding its technology offerings in the modern always-connected world.
Julia Schick, director of marketing and public relations for Laketran, said 2015 will bring in a several high-tech upgrades. Riders will be able to text Laketran to learn when the next bus will arrive at a specific bus stop or be able to use a smartphone app to follow where any bus is on the road, she said.
Outdoor LED signs at the newly opened Julie A. Cunningham Painesville Transfer Center also will display constantly updated, real-time information for incoming buses. The signs eventually will be brought to other high-traffic areas, including the Great Lakes Mall in Mentor and Lakeland Community College in Kirtland, Schick said.
Longer-term plans to help Laketran keep up with changing technologies include a new fleet of commuter express buses that will come equipped with Wi-Fi, she said.
“Now instead of trying to guess where the bus is, we can actually track it (with GPS),” Jurkowski added.
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