The Lake Tran Ceremony on July 29 marked an important milestone

July 29, 2021 deserves to be recorded as an important day in Lake Tran’s history.

Two milestones have been achieved that day, by public transport at Lakeland Community College.

Laketran Debuting a new battery-powered electric bus, dedicated Frank J. Polyfuka Transit Center — Named after the agency’s first employee — outside the transit center on the Lakeland campus Cartland.

“It would have been unbelievable to say yesterday that we would debut our electric buses and charging infrastructure shortly after or perhaps during a thunderstorm,” said Brian Falkou, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Laketran. Mr. Ski said.

Laketran deploys 10 New Flyer Xcelsior Charge™ 35-feet electric transport buses will shift 60 percent in the fall, officials said Of a local route bus fleet to a zero-emission vehicle. According to Laketran, the battery-powered bus is the first in Ohio.

In addition to reducing air pollution, buses will also reduce noise, fuel and maintenance costs, said Ben Capelle, CEO of Laketran.

“These buses are equipped with some of the latest safety and accessibility features available on the buses,” Capelle said. Said. “There is a device that allows a person in a wheelchair to get on the bus, push a button, and be safe without the help of a driver. This is a pretty big problem for people using mobility devices.”

He also said he has a system that knows the height of the bus and when it needs to be lowered to help someone get on.

“There are a lot of computers that can tell you the height that’s right for your environment, which is very important on the go,” he said.

Among the sources of funding for the electric bus program was the Ohio EPA. Winner of Laketran Over $ 1.5 million to replace six aging diesel buses.

Carolyn Watkins, director of the Ohio EPA’s Diesel Emissions Reduction Grant Program, said the exchange would reduce air pollution by more than 1.5 tonnes annually. The money comes from the $ 75 million awarded to Ohio by the Volkswagen Routs Trust Fund.

The bus charging infrastructure will be housed at the Frank J. Polyfka Transit Center. The transit center will be open to the public on March 15th and will also feature an indoor waiting room, Wi-Fi and public toilets. The center is adjacent to National Highway 306.

It serves as the central transfer point for six local bus routes, a park-and-ride service to Cleveland, and a campus loop shuttle service at Lakeland Community College.

Polivka was Laketran’s General Manager from 1979 to 2003. During his tenure at Laketran, he helped pass the agency’s first taxation in 1988 and launched the Dial-a-Ride and Park-n-Ride services.

“Probably no one has shaped Lake County’s transportation as much as Frank Polyfka,” Capelle said. “It’s not every day that you can say’I started the transportation system’.”

Capelle said Polyfka purchased some of the state’s first natural gas baths in 1997 and has been devoting itself to alternative fuels “for a long time.”

“I couldn’t think of a better person named after this facility,” says Capelle.

Mr. Polyfka said the building bears his name, but it is the culmination of “a tremendous community effort that I have come to participate in.”

The event marked two major achievements by Laketran that deserve to be shared with future generations.

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