Lorain County Transit

Lorain County Transit

Founded	1974
Headquarters	226 Middle Avenue Elyria, Ohio
Locale	Elyria, Ohio
Service area	Lorain County, Ohio
Service type	Bus service, Demand responsive transport, microtransit
Routes	5
Website	Official website

Lorain County Transit(LCT) is a public transit agency in Lorain County, Ohio in the United States. A division of the Lorain County Commissioners, LCT currently operates primarily demand-responsive bus service, along with a few fixed routes. The headquarters are located in Lorain County's county seat in Elyria.

History

In 1974, Lorain County board chairman, Robert Wickens successfully led the effort to launch transit service throughout the county.

LCT began operating several fixed bus routes across several municipalities throughout Lorain County, majority of which served as an established terminus hub as a transfer point adjacent to the Midway Mall. A secondary terminus for some of the routes were by a shopping plaza in downtown Lorain. In addition, LCT eventually began operating a few inter-county bus routes; an express route (Route 33) from downtown Oberlin to Cleveland Hopkins International Airport was, courtesy of funding from Oberlin College. It also provided a stop at a park and lot in Elyria; LCT also provided a weekday-only rush hour express bus route (Route 70) from Elyria to the RTA park and ride lot in Westlake, providing a connection to RTA bus routes into downtown Cleveland. Additionally, LCT provided a local route from Elyria to the Lorain Country line in North Olmsted via North Ridgeville, providing connections to RTA bus routes into downtown Cleveland.

LCT eventually began launching connecting demand-responsive "Community Connector" service, where riders connected to and from fixed routes. The Community Connector provided the service within Oberlin, Amherst, South Amherst, Avon, and Avon Lake.

In 1992, LCT launched a weekday-only run service between Elyria and Cleveland Clinic in Lorain via Amherst. The route was primarily a flag stop route in the corporate limits of Amherst. Around the mid-1990s, LCT provided service at the Super Kmart in Lorain.

In the mid-2000s, LCT announced that the bus routes no longer be a flag stop route citing safety concerns for other riders.

On June 1, 2009, the Lorain County Commissioners had approved $300,000 in service reductions as a result of funding shortfalls and economical struggles. Around the same, LCT discontinued the 33 and 70 routes. LCT additionally discontinued service running on Sunday. On September 1, 2009, LCT also discontinued providing connections to RTA routes in Avon Lake. ^[1]

On December 31, 2009, LCT suspended service systemwide, and on January 14, 2010, LCT shut down majority of the routes due to funding issues, following a failed tax levy. ^{[2] [3]} At the same, LCT combined 4 routes into 2 combined routes; routes 1 and 51, and 2 and 52, respectively.

On September 10, 2012, LCT launched the Cleveland Commuter express route from Elyria to Downtown Cleveland, but was later discontinued on August 16, 2013 due to low ridership.

In July 2024, LCT launched "ViaLC", a demand-response microtransit service under partnership with Via Transportation providing service within Elyria and Lorain. ^[4]

Other services

In addition with the fixed routes, LCT also operates a demand-response dial-a-ride service along with an "Oberlin Connector" service, the latter of which is required to have their trips begin and/or end within Oberlin's city limits. LCT also operates demand-response microtransit service under partnership with Via Transportation providing service within Elyria and Lorain.

Fares

Oberlin Connector, ViaLC, and all fixed routes cost $2 for a one-way trip. Dial-A-Ride service outside of Oberlin costs $9 one way. Seniors, children, disabled, and Medicare card holders can receive a discount of $1, while veterans and children 2 and under can ride for free. Transfer tickets to allow riders to transfer to other routes are also free of charge upon request. Monthly and all-day tickets and passes are also available.

Riders on fixed routes, Oberlin Connector, and Dial-A-Ride must provide exact change in cash upon boarding, while ViaLC accepts both cash and card.

The now-defunct Cleveland Airport Express route costed $6 one-way, with student discounts available at $4. Transfer tickets or monthly passes were not accepted on the Cleveland routes. ^[5] The now-defunct Cleveland Commuter route fare was $4.25 each way.

Routes

The current routes currently operate every 2 hours on weekdays only.

Current routes

Route No.	Destination	Notes
Loop	Downtown Elyria Loop	Some select buses stop at the Port Authority Complex Some buses connect with routes 51 and 52
1	Lorain/Elyria via Washington	Combines with Route 51
2	Lorain/Elyria via Broadway	Combines with Route 52
51	East Elyria/Broad Street Loop	Combines with Route 1 Serves Lorain County Community College
52	East Elyria/Abbe Road Loop	Combines with Route 2

Defunct routes ^[6]

Route No.	Route Name	Terminals		Notes
3	Sheffield Lake/Abbe Road	Elyria Transfer Point	Meridian Plaza in Lorain	Formerly provided a transfer point to route 55 Served Lorain County Community College
11	North Ridgeville/Center Ridge Road	Elyria Transfer Point	RTA Connection (Lorain & Barton Roads in North Olmsted)	Provides local bus service to the Lorain County line to connect with former RTA routes 63F and 75X [7]
21	Oberlin / Wellington	Elyria Transfer Point	Downtown Oberlin (South Pleasant & East College Streets) Downtown Wellington (South Main Street & West Herrick Avenue)	Limited service to Wellington provided on weekdays Operated daily to Oberlin, making several in-demand stops across the city. Some runs formerly terminated at the Discount Drug Mart in Oberlin, which was discontinued sometime in the mid-2000s.
31	Cooper Foster Park Road / North Ridge Road	Elyria Transfer Point	Super Kmart in Lorain	Formerly provided a request deviation to Nord Center in Lorain Stopped at Lorain County Job & Family Services upon request Served Sheffield Center in Lorain
32	Cleveland Clinic, Lorain/Amherst Loop [8]	Elyria Transfer Point	Cleveland Clinic in Lorain	Operated weekdays only Launched in 1992 [9] Transfer to routes 31 & 41 at Super Kmart Westbound direction operated via Cleveland & West Martin Avenues Eastbound direction operated via Cooper Foster Park Road Discontinued sometime in the mid-2000s
33	Cleveland Hopkins Airport Express	Downtown Oberlin (South Pleasant & East College Streets)	Cleveland Hopkins International Airport	Additional stop at the Park & Ride lot in Elyria Formerly provided a limited weekday stop at the "RTA Connection" stop at the Lorain County line in North Olmsted Connection to the RTA Rapid Transit's Red Line Originally named Cleveland Link and formerly Cleveland Connector Direct service buses operated to/from Oberlin and the airport for the college's holiday breaks, special events, and beginnings and ends of semesters. In spring 2009, this supplemental service was provided on 47-55 passenger motorcoaches by Brecksville Road Transit. Discontinued on June 5, 2009
41	Oberlin Avenue	Meridian Plaza in Lorain	Super Kmart in Lorain	Originally named West Lorain Loop [10]
42	West Erie	Meridian Plaza in Lorain	Super Kmart in Lorain	Terminus at the now-defunct Super Kmart Service provided at the Lorain Hospital Originally consolidated with route 41
43	Central / West Lorain Loop	Meridian Plaza in Lorain		Operated hourly on weekdays only
53	West Elyria/West Ridge Road Loop	Transfer Point in Elyria		Operated Monday-Saturday
55 [11]	Avon Lake / Avon Commons	Abbe Road & Lake Road	Avon Commons - Target Lodge at Avenbury Lakes	Operated Monday-Saturday Transfer point to route 3 at Abbe Road & Lake Road Discontinued sometime in the mid-2000s
70	Westlake Express	Transfer Point in Elyria	Westlake Park-N-Ride	6 trips in both directions on weekdays only; 3 morning trips to Westlake and 3 evening trips to Elyria Stopped at the Park & Ride lot in Avon, near the corner of Chester Road & Middle Street (OH-83) Connection to RTA bus routes to Downtown Cleveland LCT proposed to extend this route to downtown Cleveland but did not come to fruition. Discontinued in June 2009
Commuter [12]	Cleveland Commuter	Lorain County Port Authority Complex (limited service) Lorain County Transportation & Community Center	West Side Market (West 25th Street & Lorain Avenue) Public Square (South Roadway & Ontario Street)	Operated weekdays only; provided 8 trips daily Also stopped at the county's Board of Elections lot Launched in September 2012 Discontinued on August 16, 2013 Fare was $4.25

See also

• List of bus transit systems in the United States

References

1. "$300,000 in LCT cuts approved: Greater Cleveland RTA connection in Avon Lake to end". Morning Journal. May 22, 2009. Retrieved 12 December 2025.
2. "Lorain County Transit bus routes will be eliminated after Dec. 31". Cleveland. December 4, 2009. Retrieved 25 August 2024.
3. "County bus routes cut drastically". Morning Journal. January 12, 2010. Retrieved 23 September 2024.
4. "'We see the need today:' On-demand transit service ViaLC rolls out in Elyria, Lorain". News 5 Cleveland. 15 July 2024. Retrieved 9 February 2025.
5. "Cleveland Hopkins Airport Express". Archived from the original on 27 August 2007. Retrieved 25 August 2024.
6. Lorain County Commissioners. "Lorain County Transit" . Retrieved 25 August 2024.{{cite web}}: Check |archive-url= value (help)
7. "Operational Analysis of LCT Fixed Route Services". Archived from the original on October 3, 2006. Retrieved 12 December 2025.}
8. "LCT - Route 32 - Cleveland Clinic, Lorain/Amherst Loop". Lorain County Transit. Archived from the original on 10 October 2003. Retrieved 11 December 2024.
9. "County Transit bus route incorporates local plaza". Ohio Memory. Amherst News-times. August 26, 1992. Retrieved 25 July 2025.
10. "Oberlin Avenue". Lorain County Transit. Archived from the original on 22 June 2007. Retrieved 5 December 2024.
11. "Route 55 - Avon Lake/Avon Commons". Lorain County Transit. Archived from the original on 13 September 2003. Retrieved 9 February 2025.
12. "Lorain County, OH - Commuter Route". Lorain County. Archived from the original on 7 June 2013. Retrieved 31 July 2025.