OH: Lorain County commissioners approve contract with transit consultant

Lorain County commissioners have contracted with an Akron man to help manage the transit system while the county searches for a new director.

Kirt Conrad has a significant amount of experience in managing transit systems, according to his resume.

At a recent meeting, the commissioners agreed to pay Conrad $29,700 for consulting services, according to county documents.

“With the retirement of Pam Novak (the former Lorain County Transit director), we have the opportunity for some outside eyes to take a look at how we’ve been doing things,” said Commission President Jeff Riddell. “Maybe there’s things we can be doing that we’re not. Maybe there’s things that we could be doing better or whatever.

“I commend the administrative team for taking a piece of that opportunity to bring in some fresh eyes before we go forward so that maybe we can chart a better, more efficient path forward.”

Conrad started his new position Oct. 21, said Deputy Administrator Karen Perkins.

“We’re excited to have him on board; he’s been around quite some time in transit,” Perkins said. “It’s difficult to find anybody that has transit experience.”

In the last few days that Conrad’s been on the job, he’s already produced a report to submit to Perkins.

“He’s hitting the ground running,” she said. “I’ve been impressed for the last two days, so we’ll see how this goes.”

Currently, Conrad is focusing on the transit’s budget, contracts and scheduling meetings with the Ohio Department of Transportation.

The Lorain County Transit has had a long embattled history of being ineffective in transporting the county’s population around the area.

In 2024, the commissioners partnered with Via Transportation Inc., a technology company that provides software as a service and operations to improve public transportation networks for municipalities, educational facilities, health care providers and corporations internationally.

Via Transportation provided the county with a micro-transit pilot program in July 2024, and uses on-demand vehicles to provide public transit in Lorain County.

The microsystem has proved successful, particularly for Lorain and Elyria residents.

However, the contract expires in 2025.

County officials have said they will attempt to continue to pursue an effective transportation for residents.

Funding is an issue to continue to the program.

The commissioners have been negotiating with various Lorain County government officials and private entities in an effort to collect funding to continue the service.

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