Lorain County Transit

Lorain County Transit (LCT) is a public transit agency for Lorain County, Ohio, 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.

In 1974, Lorain County board chairman, Robert Wickens successfully led the effort to launch public transit service within the locale of Lorain County, Ohio.

LCT began operating several fixed bus routes across several municipalities throughout Lorain County, majority of which served as an established terminal as a transfer point adjacent to 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. Designated bus stop signs were eventually installed.

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.^[2]

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.^[3][4] At the same, LCT combined 4 routes into 2 combined routes; routes 1 and 51, and 2 and 52, respectively, leaving the system with only 4 routes, and demand-responsive transport operating only on weekdays.

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 2017, Northeast Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency awarded funds to LCT to develop a plan for service evaluations to help increase ridership awareness and improve marketing. In November and December of the same year, LCT held public meetings in Elyria for local residents of a proposed new redevelopment plan. However, the plans have not come to fruition.^[5]

In July 2024, LCT launched "ViaLC", a demand-response microtransit service under partnership with Via Transportation providing service within Elyria and Lorain.^[6] On December 18, 2025, LCT received a federal grant of $2.7 million for transit expansion; officials have currently planned to expand service hours on the microtransit service and resurrect weekend service.^[7]

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. ViaLC currently operates weekdays only from 6 AM to 6 PM.

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 3 through 12, and disabled 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 free of charge and must be requested upon boarding; riders were originally allowed 2 transfers with a transfer ticket. Due to the current downsized network of fixed routes, only 1 use is currently allowed. Monthly and all-day passes 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 cash, credit, and debit.

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.^[8] The now-defunct Cleveland Commuter route fare was $4.25 each way.

As of January 2010, LCT currently operates 4 routes. The current routes currently operate every 2 hours on weekdays. Each of the routes are served as a transfer point at the Black River Career Prep High School in Elyria.

• List of bus transit systems in the United States