The Lorain County Transit Route 33 shuttle to the Cleveland Hopkins Airport may be cut from nine to as few as four shuttles per day. The Lorain County Commissioners will vote on the issue sometime in the next two weeks and, if approved, the change could go into effect as early as April 1.

According to Blaise Freeman, an Oberlin senior who has been working on the issue since he received a public notification about it over Winter Term, the changes would not affect the weekend LCT service or the frequency of service to the airport over breaks, such as the upcoming Spring Break.

“Part of the O-pass agreement is that they boost service around breaks,” said Freeman.

O-Pass, the result of a contract between LCT and Oberlin College students, ensures the frequency of the weekend’s runs and the rush periods until June 1 this year, when the contract ends.

The potential changes to Route 33 are part of a more sweeping set of changes that would eliminate many runs on routes with low ridership. According to newly appointed LCT Director Tom Ferguson, the changes are projected to save nearly $200,000 for the county over three years.

Last week, the Lorain County Commissioners voted to take the operating contract away from First Transit, Inc., which has run the LCT for Lorain County since 2000, and award it to a California-based operating firm, MV Contract Transportation, Inc. This change of contract will save the county an additional $170,000.

David Ashenhurst, an Oberlin citizen and a self-described fan of public transportation, explained that MV Transportation, while based out of California, runs eight other transit systems in Ohio.

A recently commissioned consultant’s report suggested that the Route 33 runs be cut back from nine per day to four, but those changes are not set in stone, according to LCT director Tom Ferguson.

“Route 33 is something we’re currently looking at,” said Ferguson. “We don’t know exactly how it will change yet. We’re still considering the recommendations from the consultant while talking to Dave [Ashenhurst] and Blaise [Freeman] to consider other options.”

Freeman is looking into the possibility of negotiating with LCT to keep more of the weekday runs by renegotiating the O-Pass weekend contract.

“Everyone’s hands are tied right now because of the O-Pass contract,” said Freeman. “The first agreements were made between students and the LCT Board and the LCT can’t change the weekend routes because of the contract.”

While all other LCT route cutbacks will be effective April 1, it is unclear when Route 33’s new run schedule will be finalized.

Meanwhile, Freeman and Ashenhurst are working to involve more students and community members in the process and find solutions that better represent community and College interest.

“I really want other students involved in this process,” said Freeman, who encourages interested students to e-mail him at blaise.freeman@Oberlin.edu.

“We need a student organization with continuity and accountability to communicate with LCT and follow up on changes that need to happen. That’s the problem with O-Pass. We need people involved now who will be around in the future.”