Laketran has been awarded $800,000 through the Ohio Workforce Mobility Partnership Program for its Shoregate Transfer Center Improvement Project in Willowick. According to the Ohio Department of Transportation, the funding serves to increase the ease and efficiency of transporting residents to economically significant employment centers or places of employment outside of their home communities. Officials noted that Laketran is one of 16 transit agencies in 33 counties to benefit from the program grants of more than $17.5 million. The (Shoregate) site currently sees more than 4,000 monthly transfers between the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority and Laketran, with a significant portion of trips being work-related, noted State Rep. Daniel Troy, D-Willowick. “I am pleased that my colleagues and I were able to make this funding available in House Bill 23, our biennial transportation budget,” he stated. “It is certainly in Ohio’s best interest to remove barriers and improve the ability for people to get to work. “In my previous tenure in the Ohio House, I was able to help secure $1.7 million from Ohio’s Public Transit Capital Fund for the construction of their (Laketran’s) original headquarters facility, and am now certainly proud, 30 years later, to continue supporting the agency.” Troy is a member of the Ohio House Finance Committee and has been “a vocal proponent of using state funding” to improve workforce participation. “This particular funding will assist in that effort, and builds on increased childcare funding I advocated for in the state operating budget to help single working mothers stay in or re-enter the labor force,” he added. The Ohio Workforce Mobility Partnership Program was established with support from the Ohio General Assembly and provides funding for infrastructure, equipment, technology, vehicles, and planning projects. The program is administered by ODOT’s Office of Transit which advocates and supports safe and reliable personal mobility by coordinating and funding public transportation as a vital element of Ohio’s transportation system. “On behalf of Laketran, I extend our sincerest thanks to ODOT for its generous support, as well as our local elected officials who advocate for Laketran through their letters of support for our grant application,” said CEO Ben Capelle. “We’re grateful for this investment in our community, which will help eliminate transportation barriers and open doors to meaningful employment across Northeast Ohio.”