The Board of Directors of the Lima Allen County Regional Transit Authority (ACRTA) is seeking competitive proposals from qualified firms to provide transit management services, including  the day-to-day management, for the transit system serving the Lima-Allen County community.  For more information, follow the hot link to the ACRTA - Request for Proposal - Transit Management Services.

Public Transit in Allen County

At its inception in 1878, public transportation existed as a horse-drawn, street railway system that serviced the City of Lima.  However, an electric powered system, put into operation in 1887, was the first successful electric streetcar system in Ohio and one of the first in the nation.  The electric streetcars were popular and the dominant mode of public transportation within Allen County until 1938 when gasoline/diesel powered vehicles were put into use.  By 1950, that public transit service, operated by the Lima City Lines, was abandoned.  In 1951, the service was reorganized as the Lima Transit Company and the Lima Suburban Lines, Inc.  Through changes in management, ridership continued to decline until 1972 when transit service was transferred to the Lima Bus Service, a private company franchised by the City of Lima.  Because of rising subsidy costs, the City of Lima sought other solutions to their public transit dilemma.  In September 1974, the Board of Commissioners of Allen County created the Allen County Regional Transit Authority (ACRTA) in an attempt to centralize mass transportation planning within the County and to secure federal funding for project implementation.  In April 1976, the City of Lima entered into an agreement with the ACRTA to manage the City's transit operations.  In May, the Allen County Board of County Commissioners agreed to cooperate with the ACRTA and the City of Lima in providing public transportation into the County. 

The Lima-Allen County Regional Transit Authority (LACRTA) provides Lima-Allen County both fixed route and complementary paratransit services.  ACRTA currently operates as a fixed route/deviation system on a flag stop basis.  A fixed route transportation system is one that operates along a prescribed route according to a fixed schedule.  However, upon request, ACRTA buses may deviate from the fixed route to allow passengers to either embark or disembark.  ACRTA passengers can flag down a bus at any point along the fixed route and can also request to depart the bus at any location. 

2011 LACRTA Annual Report

Uplift - Complementary Paratransit Services

Federal regulations require transit operators, using federal funds and operating a fixed route system, to provide complementary paratransit service.  Paratransit is an alternative mode of flexible passenger transportation services for the mobility disabled.  ACRTA's Uplift Program serves the mobility limited within the ACRTA service area which encompasses 68.6 square miles in Allen County.  To meet federal requirements, Uplift Program patrons are also served within a 3/4 mile minimum required area of service that is required by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the Zone 2 area of service provided by the ACRTA.

The ACRTA currently utilizes four (4) wheelchair lift equipped ten (10) seat converted vans with two (2) back-ups to provide Uplift paratransit services. ACRTA also utilizes a van capable of holding twenty-two (22) individuals or four (4) wheelchairs and twelve (12) individuals. The ACRTA reserves an additional lift equipped converted van to handle overflow demands and necessary vehicle maintenance rotations of the rolling stock. The ACRTA also has mutual aid agreements with local paratransit operators who will loan the ACRTA paratransit vehicles should the need ever arise.

Uplift's service is made available to qualified individuals on the same days and during the same hours as the ACRTA's regular fixed route services.  During weekdays, the service operates between the hours of 6:45 a.m. and 5:15 p.m.  No service is provided on Saturday, Sunday, or six (6) of the major holidays.  Trip requests forADA paratransit are available through voice mail messaging during ACRTA non-working hours.  

In order to utilize the Uplift Program service, formal certification is required.  Eligibility is based on an evaluation of mobility impairments in three areas - movement, vision, and cognition.  Initial eligibility for service is determined by the ACRTA staff.  A doctor's or medical professional's signature on the individual's program application must verify disabilities. Once certified, the individual receives an identification card verifying his/her eligibility for service.  Since service eligibility is based upon the duration and degree of impairment, a temporary condition would warrant service only for as long as the service is needed, whereas a permanent condition would sanction program eligibility without temporal conditions.  The criteria the ACRTA utilizes for eligibility is compatible with the mandates and requirements established in the ADA legislation.

ACRTA provides Uplift paratransit services on a next day basis, whereby requests for services will be accommodated when received by certified individuals anytime during the preceding day.  Trip reservations can be made up to fourteen (14) days in advance.  On days when the ACRTA administrative offices are closed, voice mail messaging is utilized in order to process the requests for next day services. 

Subscription Service consists of regularly scheduled trips for people who go to and from the same place at the same time on the same days of the week.  If the system were to reach maximum capacity, the ACRTA would need to limit subscription based services to 50% of paratransit operations per federal rule. Therefore, if capacity is reached, the ACRTA will reserve the right to limit subscription trips.

Other Allen County Paratransit Services

A Public Transit - Human Service Transportation Coordination Plan was developed with the goal of building a strong network of transportation as well as social and human service professionals, and policymakers who recognize and understand the issues involved in the coordination of public transit and human service transportation needs.  The ultimate goal of multi-agency transportation  Citizens' Accessibility Advisory Committee (CAAC) is the development of the information, support, and resources necessary to sustain and deliver transportation services to those in need across the community. to provide community-wide transportation services that are accessible, affordable, appropriate, safe, dependable, as well as, coordinated to the transportation disadvantaged of Allen County.