The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
MOVE Lorain County announces survey results
MOVE Lorain County released the initial results of a countywide survey assessing local transportation needs.
Mobility and Opportunity for a Vibrant Economy Lorain County released the initial results of a county-wide survey Aug. 30 assessing local transportation needs.
Also known as MOVE Lorain County, the group is a grassroots effort which began in 2016 to develop a Lorain County Coordinated Transportation Plan and will submit a proposal to the Ohio Department of Transportation in November.
“We have a very large animal in front of us: an elephant,” said Sherman Jones, a facilitator with MOVE Lorain County. “That elephant is coordinated transportation.
“We’ve had a lot of leaders looking at this problem over the past several years, but no one can come to agreement on what has to be done.”
The process is bringing together different ideas from organizations to develop a family of transportation services with MOVE Lorain County facilitating an effective and efficient process to move forward.
“Other services like health care, are a judgement of the quality of our community,” Jones said. “Our transportation services should be one of those things we show to people when they come to visit from out of town.”
Gathering feedback through a survey and a series of public input sessions in Lorain County, initial results from 335 respondents, or 48 percent of the sample, indicate they are not aware of local transportation alternatives.
Sharon Pearson, a mobility management consultant with MOVE Lorain County, noted the survey results elicited concerns with Medicaid services along with a desire for transportation services to improve quality of life and economic development.
“Medicaid was not on my radar when I first started this discussion and how this is playing into transportation,” Pearson said. “Medicaid is now becoming an issue for the hospitals and the users.”
With respondents citing the drugstore as one of the top destinations they need to get to, designing services to meet those needs is a consideration for MOVE Lorain County, she said.
In addition, 485 respondents — 70 percent — reside in urban areas of Lorain, Elyria and Oberlin as the top three, bringing into question whether initial survey results adequately reflect the needs of rural parts of the county. In terms of transportation needs, residents expressed a need to complete errands with the top five selections: grocery store, visiting a doctor, going to a drugstore, visiting friends and family, and going to a department store.
However, respondents also talked of a desire for more opportunities beyond the practical to travel to Avon Commons, the city of Oberlin, visiting parks including Lakeview Park and Lorain County Metro Parks, airports and to social activities.
“What I’m also finding through my one-on-one’s and even through these survey results is, what is missing is the quality of life,” Pearson said. “There were a lot of comments from people wanting to visit the (Lorain County) Metro Parks or to visit family. Without transportation services, we are not able to provide that for people.”
People also have a desire to visit other cities and go shopping without convenience to get there if they don’t have access to a vehicle, she said.
Respondents identified bus service, ride and bike sharing programs, carpooling and walking as possible transportation alternatives to use if feasible.
Pearson said MOVE Lorain County is hoping to work over the next year with businesses and organizations to design a plan to resolve some of those issues.
MOVE Lorain County will hold three public meetings: 6 p.m., Sept. 6, at Ohio Business College, 5095 Waterford Drive in Sheffield Village; at 6:30 p.m., Sept. 10, at First Church of Oberlin UCC, JFO Room, 106 N. Main St. in Oberlin; and at 7 p.m., Sept. 13, at Lorain Public Library System Avon Branch, 37485 Harvest Drive.