By Harrell Kerkhoff, Busline Magazine Editor

Celebrating its 50^th anniversary in late 2024, from the start Laketran has never been your “average transit system.” Since its inception, the people in charge of Laketran have been committed to providing quality public transportation services to all Lake County (OH) residents, with a special emphasis placed on meeting the needs of senior citizens and people with disabilities.

“I joke that people today talk about on-demand microtransit being the ‘next big thing,’ but we’ve been operating a similar service since 1986,” Laketran CEO Ben Capelle said, during a recent interview. “Our on-demand Dial-a-Ride service is open to any resident of Lake County, and it’s something we have been doing for a very long time. The service is provided throughout the county as well as to medical facilities in nearby Cleveland, OH.”

Today, the Laketran regional public transportation system provides local fixed-route, door-to-door on-demand Dial-a-Ride, and commuter Park-n-Ride services. The latter is conducted between Lake County and downtown Cleveland.

Laketran was established as the Lake County Regional Transit Authority on Dec. 23, 1974. The name “Laketran” was adopted in 1979. The name of the transit system, and the county itself, is based on the proximity of both to Lake Erie. Also bordering the northeast side of Cleveland, Lake County is part of the Cleveland Metropolitan Statistical Area.

Starting as a very lean operation in the 1970s that involved borrowed equipment, Laketran now has a modern mixed fleet of approximately 160 vehicles.

“Laketran’s mission from its beginning has been a little different compared to many transit agencies,” Capelle said. “We have roughly 100 Dial-a-Ride vehicles, approximately 40 traditional fixed-route buses, and 20 commuter buses — to provide an idea of how much emphasis we have placed on Dial-a-Ride.”

As to why that is so, Capelle provided a brief history lesson.

“A lot of today’s transit agencies started decades ago from a legacy system based on private bus service ownership. Laketran’s history is different. It was formed in the 1970s within a suburban county that didn’t have a central business district. That was unusual at the time, especially in Ohio,” Capelle said. “Therefore, Laketran has always serviced a suburban population, where many residents have a pro-car mentality. Although we have not always had the right demographics in place for traditional bus routes, there has been strong demand over the years for reliable transportation for senior citizens and people with disabilities.

“It was recognized early on, in Laketran’s history, the importance of Dial-a-Ride service for people who needed it the most — and that continues today.”

Improvements continue for such public transportation at Laketran. Currently, the transit system’s Dial-a-Ride trips must be scheduled in advance, with appointments made either online or by calling a customer service center. Plans are underway, however, to modernize that process.

“As a public transportation provider, it’s important to constantly make our services better and to ‘push the envelope.’ We feel the public expects that type of service evolution from their transit agency,” Capelle said. “We have a plan in place to start same day Dial-a-Ride service later this year, similar to what rideshare companies provide. We are also working to improve our real-time arrival system to include Dial-a-Ride, allowing users to know exactly where their vehicles are during the pick-up and drop-off process. That capability will be especially important at such places as healthcare and long-term care facilities. For example, receptionists at those facilities will be able to tell where the Dial-a-Ride vehicle is when it comes to picking up or dropping off their clients.

“We have developed this real-time technology in partnership with a vendor. It’s not something we just purchased off the shelf.”

Meaningful improvements are coming to Laketran in other ways as well. Ground was broken in 2023 for an operations and maintenance expansion project at Laketran’s headquarters in Painesville Township, OH. Scheduled to be completed by the end of 2024, the project will add 37,670 square feet of operations and bus storage space to the existing 162,000-square-foot headquarters. Laketran’s building upgrades include expanding its operations center that houses dispatch, scheduling and driver’s area, as well as add an additional maintenance bay and indoor vehicle storage space.

“We are planning a big celebration soon to celebrate not only our 50^th anniversary but the completion of this large project,” Capelle said. “The expansion is an important step in providing reliable public transportation in Lake County well into the future. It will allow us to increase the size of our fleet, improve the efficiency of our operations and maintenance, and create a safer and more productive work environment for our employees.”

The $22 million expansion is primarily being funded by a competitive grant from the Federal Transit Administration. Laketran officials have also been busy in the recent past with other building projects. That includes having an indoor waiting area built at a Park-n-Ride lot, and constructing a new transit center at an area community college.

A Greener Fleet

Laketran continues to expand its ever-diversifying fleet of clean diesel-, battery electric-, and propane-powered vehicles. An important part of that objective is to reduce the transit system’s carbon footprint and to improve air quality in northeastern Ohio.

Laketran began in 2017 to transition its Dial-a-Ride fleet to propane fuel. One goal was, and continues to be, reducing operating expenses and vehicle replacement costs, while also providing more fuel-efficient and eco-friendly public transportation in Lake County. The transit provider’s infrastructure for its propane fleet now includes a 30,000-gallon tank and specialized pumps.

“When we learned several years ago that diesel engines were going to become less prevalent for new cutaway buses, we conducted an analysis and found that propane provided the most cost-effective way to operate our Dial-a-Ride fleet,” Capelle said. “The process of converting to propane has worked well and has provided us with significant cost savings. At the same time, we have not had to undergo major changes in how we conduct business.

“We have found propane’s benefits to be multifold. For example, 97 percent of propane consumed in the United States is produced in North America, and propane produces fewer emissions compared to gasoline and diesel. The only downside we have experienced is the upfront cost per vehicle, but that cost pays for itself in the long run. Of the 100 Dial-a-Ride vehicles we currently operate, 60 are traditional cutaway buses powered by propane, while 40 are gasoline-powered vans and minivans.”

Laketran has also been involved in the operation of 10 battery electric fixed-route buses.

“One of the unique things about our battery electric bus fleet is that those buses are only charged en route,” Capelle explained. “We don’t charge the buses in a garage overnight. Instead, they are turned off in the garage, just like any other bus.”

Laketran’s en route fast charging system involves chargers located at various points along the transit system’s routes. That allows the battery electric buses to charge while in service.

“We have six en route chargers, with a system in place that allows more than one bus to receive a charge at the same time,” Capelle said. “Charging takes place between six to eight minutes. After the bus enters the charging area, a pantograph robotic arm comes down to connect to the top of the bus. The charging process then begins.

“The goal is to keep our buses at 60 to 80 percent state-of-charge while in service. They use around 10 to 12 percent electric capacity between chargers — depending on weather conditions. In other words, these buses use about 12 percent of their battery power in an hour. There are times when a driver will skip a charge if the tank is full or they are behind schedule. Our drivers are very good about managing the charging system. We are in the third year of this system, and it has worked out very well.”

Service Extraordinaire

With such a heavy focus placed on Dial-a-Ride transportation, all Laketran representatives are properly trained and understand the critical importance to providing proper customer service.

“It’s everything to us,” Capelle said. “We tell employees, ‘Look, someone is trusting us with their loved one. We might be transporting their parent or child. It’s therefore paramount that we take proper care of that person during the entire transportation process.’”

One major key to providing superior customer service is hiring the right type of person, Capelle added.

“We look for candidates who exhibit a true desire to help people,” he said. “We can teach just about anybody to properly operate a bus, but you can’t really teach people to care about their passengers. They must have that desire beforehand and want to be a positive influence for others.”

That focus is especially vital for Dial-a-Ride, which serves as a paratransit option for many passengers who can no longer ride a fixed-route bus. With Dial-a-Ride, it’s not uncommon for a Laketran driver to carry a passenger’s groceries to that person’s front door and to also hold an umbrella over a passenger during inclement weather.

“That main part to being a good employee, which of course includes all our driving positions, is a genuine desire ‘to be here,’” Capelle said. “We can teach the rest. We also empower our employees to make decisions on their own — as long as they put safety and customer service first.”

To better attract, and retain, Dial-a-Ride drivers, Laketran is working on a program where such employees will be able to use an app to schedule their own hours, like what takes place with private ride-share companies. Under the program, monetary benefits will be given to drivers who schedule their work hours during the busiest times of the day.

Laketran has approximately 275 employees, with 73 percent being drivers. The transit system is also under contract to operate neighboring Geauga Transit for the residents of nearby Geauga County, OH. The latter transit system has approximately 30 employees.

“Along with the more traditional customer service and marketing programs that we offer, Laketran oversees several unique initiatives to help passengers feel more comfortable while using our services. That includes a one-on-one travel training program, where a Laketran employee will ride with a new passenger during a trip to help that person become more familiar with our transit options,” Capelle said “We know that many seniors, for example, have never used a public transit bus. Our objective is to help them become more familiar with our services.”

Laketran also provides its Transit GO program, designed to increase job access options for residents in northeastern Ohio, with the ultimate objective being greater area employee retention and workforce development. The program provides fare-free transportation on local routes to employees of participating Lake County businesses.

Bus passes are directly distributed to employees through EZfare, Laketran’s mobile ticketing app. If the employee does not have a smartphone, paper passes are provided. As a condition to participating in the Transit GO program, each employer must provide employment verification to confirm passenger eligibility. Laketran has a similar program available for area schools and their students.

Moving Forward

Lake County is the smallest among Ohio’s 88 counties by land area, although interestingly, the county extends under Lake Erie and shares a watery international border with Ontario. Laketran serves the entire part of the county that is above water. It also provides various services outside of Lake County, namely transporting people to and from Cleveland, located in nearby Cuyahoga County.

Laketran’s combined fleet currently travels approximately 4.6 million miles per year. Approximate yearly ridership numbers are as follows: 315,000 local fixed-route passenger trips; 270,000 on-demand Dial-a-Ride passenger trips; and 60,000 commuter Park-n-Ride passenger trips.

“Our local-route ridership is up about 25 percent over prepandemic numbers. We’ve added some service and, as a result, seen a lot of growth,” Capelle said. “Meanwhile, our Dial-a-Ride paratransit service is up around 10 percent from the prepandemic period.

“The Park-n-Ride service, meanwhile, has recovered to about 50 percent of what it used to be prior to the pandemic, which in a lot of ways outpaces our peers. We continue to monitor our Park-n-Ride ridership and understand that many people are still working from home. Also, Cleveland has declined a bit as a major employer hub and is turning into more of a residential hub. In response, we have been providing reverse commute options to meet the new transportation needs of people in the area.

“We have also responded to other ridership needs. That includes expanding our local-route hours, which now begin at 5 a.m. That has made a huge difference to early morning passengers who must be at work by 6 a.m.”

Being responsive to changing community transportation needs has helped Laketran grow over its half-century of service. That is especially true for first-time riders of the public transit system.

“We are working hard to attract and help people of different walks of life use our system for their various needs,” Capelle said. “Communication in this process is key. It’s important all transit systems seek ways to best service current and potential passengers. Even though transit is subsidized, most passengers are required to pay for their trips. In response, they rightfully expect a quality service. The future success of public transportation throughout the country will depend on such expectations being met every day.”

Laketran officials can take comfort that area residents have been supportive of the transit system over the years. For example, several years ago 67 percent of county voters agreed to pass a tax levy to help Laketran keep up with increased demand.

“Many people in our community understand the value of public transportation and know somebody who uses our services, such as a family member, employee, or co-worker,” Capelle said.

Having spent most of his working career in public transportation, Capelle is also a big proponent of the industry as a career choice.

“I went to college to become a woodshop teacher, but like a lot of people, once transit got into my blood, I was in it for life. I started driving a transit bus while in college and have now been involved with the industry for 22 years,” Capelle said. “The wonderful part about public transportation is that it’s both challenging and rewarding. The latter is especially true when you get to see the immediate results of your work. That involves helping people get to where they need to go in life. It’s very fulfilling, and we do it every day.”