Pandemic aid will keep Oberlin's expanded bus service running through 2023

OBERLIN — American Rescue Plan funds will be used to keep expanded bus service rolling through 2023. A two-year, $200,000 deal with Lorain County Transit was approved by Oberlin City Council on Monday in a fast-tracked vote. The cash will come from federal COVID-19 relief dollars. Oberlin officials are justifying the decision as a way to soften the economic impact of the pandemic. "Due to unique difficulties in access to employment, medical and other needs and services, the negative economic impact of the COVID-19 public health emergency has had a disproportional impact upon patrons of the Oberlin Connector," said the ordinance passed by a 7-0 vote. A large part of the city's population does not own their own vehicles, according to Kathy Burns, client services coordinator at the nonprofit Oberlin Community Services. She said LCT service allows many of her clients to travel to the edge of town or outside of Oberlin to shop at less expensive stores — Walmart and Aldi are popular destinations, for example. Rides to the Amherst-Lorain border and to Elyria also have been important, allowing Oberlin residents to get to doctor appointments, Burns said. "It's given people more freedom," she said. Bus service throughout Lorain County suffered a blow in 2010, when budget concerns forced commissioners to make cuts. Using local funds, City Council paid for the Oberlin Connector service to keep rides available. Its hours and service area were expanded in 2021 after Oberlin won a $100,000 Paradox Prize grant from The Fund for Our Economic Future. Now rides are available 15 hours each weekday, carrying passengers north to state Route 254 and east to Abbe Road and state Route 57. As a result, use this year has boomed. According to Oberlin Planning and Development Director Carrie Handy, the Oberlin Connector had been used 3,408 times as of the end of October. "By helping residents get to work and to health services, the Oberlin Connector service will support the (American Rescue Plan) goals of economic stabilization for households and businesses, job retention, and increased access to health services/vaccinations to bring the pandemic under control," she wrote in a memo to Council. The ride service costs about $140,000 per year to run, including marketing. That means that with the current metrics the city is paying roughly $41 per trip and $848 per unique rider for the service. Handy said the city will continue to ask donors to financially back the service. In previous years, Oberlin Community Services, Kendal at Oberlin and others have chipped in. Contact Jason Hawk at (440) 329-7122 or news@lcnewspapers.com.