Across Northeast Ohio, help wanted signs litter the lawns of industrial parks and retail plazas. Many of these advertised jobs boast hiring bonuses or other incentives.
Thanks to an innovative pilot program in Lake County, a free ride is among the perks at some of these jobs.
Laketran’s Transit GO program enables companies to provide transit passes to employees so they can travel to and from work for free using either Laketran’s fixed bus routes or Dial-a-Ride, its Uber-like, on-demand, door-to-door service.
“The idea was to offer employers this free transit program as a type of employment incentive,” explained Patrick Mohorcic, deputy director of planning and development at Lake County Port Authority, which is co-collaborating on the pilot with Laketran, the Lake County Commissioners and the nonprofit Alliance for Working Together. “They could offer it to existing employees or use it for recruitment.”