Brunswick Transit Alternative To Serve As Model For Lakewood
The City of Lakewood should use the City of Brunswick’s Transit Alternative community circulator transit service as a possible model to restore a daily circulator bus route in Lakewood.
The City of Brunswick is successfully operating the Brunswick Transit Alternative (BTA) which is a service of the Northeast Ohio Area Coordinating Agency (NOACA) and the City of Brunswick. The BTA consists of two fixed community circulator bus routes that loop the city. This service operates using buses of 20–30 passenger capacity between the hours of 6:20 am and 7:20 pm, Monday through Friday and 10:20 am to 4:20 pm on Saturday. Overall supervision and administration of the system is provided by Buckeye Transit, Inc. with the support of the City of Brunswick.
BTA buses can be boarded at all regularly scheduled stops and anywhere along the routes by simply hailing the drivers.
Any rider that pays a fare on the BTA routes may request a free transfer from the BTA driver to the other BTA route at no additional charge. Additionally, any rider that boards a BTA bus may request a free transfer from the driver enabling the rider to transfer to an MCPT or GCRTA vehicle with no additional fare.
All buses are equipped with wheelchair lifts and locks for access by persons with disabilities.
In 2008, 31,183 riders utilized the service (including repeat customers). The total operating budget for 2008 was $387,349, with $263,491 coming from NOACA grants, $10,001 from fares paid by riders, and $113,857 from the City's general fund. The City of Brunswick continues to make available to its residents a community circulator transit service with appropriations from the 2010 budget.
By applying for funds from NOACA and using part of the City’s surplus funds, Lakewood could possibly run a successful circulator route without an undue burden upon the city’s budget.
To help bring back a daily Lakewood circulator, people can phone Riders To Bring Back The Daily Lakewood Circulator at 216-221-2724.