Phil Van Treuren, a candidate for Lorain County commissioner, is proposing that the county generate revenue by using ten dormant Lorain County Transit busses to create an “express route” into Cleveland for special events.

Van Treuren said that ten brand new LCT busses have been sitting unused in the old DIY building in Elyria since 2009. He calls that “a wasted opportunity to generate additional revenue for the county by thinking outside of the box.”

Van Treuren suggests that the busses be used on a trial basis as “express shuttles” that would take Lorain County residents into downtown Cleveland for special events like baseball games and football games. If this initial testing phase proves to be profitable for the county, the program could be expanded to take residents to the Cleveland casino when it opens for recreational gambling excursions, he said.

“We would need to look at the logistics, but I believe that the county could turn a completely wasted resource into a reliable source of revenue,” Van Treuren said. “The county commissioners are consistently spending more money than they take in every year, and this might be one way to help reverse that trend.”

In order to ensure that the express route concept is financially viable, Van Treuren said that the county should do a simple study on how much it would cost to run the busses per hour, how many people might take advantage of the opportunity, and the right ticket prices to be profitable.

In time, Van Treuren said, the express shuttles might prove to be popular and profitable enough to make multiple daily runs into Cleveland, stopping at several pickup points located strategically throughout the county.