Akron Metro RTA is looking to make traveling to and from work easier by bringing transportation right to your door.
The transportation system was one of three winners of The Paradox Prize, a grant from the Fund for Our Economic Future, which looks to better connect people with employers.
Metro RTA will receive $75,000. It plans to use the funds to provide better transportation to jobs for workers, either from their homes or from the transit center in downtown Akron.
Planning director Valerie Shea says they want to help remove the barrier transportation can be to employment.
“We’re recognizing that as kind of our travel patterns and development patterns change into the future, we need to make sure that we’re being adaptable and flexible in the services that we’re providing to make sure that we’re doing our best to meet the needs that are out there.”
Shea says the pilot program will start off in Cuyahoga Falls and Stow, before possibly expanding further into Summit County.
The program will partner with employers to collect data and develop a long-term solution for people who need the service.
Other winners included Manufacturing Works, which will receive $100,000 putting to work church vans during the week to transport workers to suburban jobs, and SHARE. It will receive $16,000 to support a ride-sharing program for job seekers.