Can you solve The Transportation Paradox of "no car, no job; no job, no car"?
07/25/2022
Systemic issues, like no-growth sprawl, that have long driven family-sustaining work both literally and figuratively out of reach for many Northeast Ohioans. But "systemic" doesn't mean "impossible to solve," and our analysis presents several potential strategies for employers. Fund President Bethia Burke shared some of these strategies and how they intersect with initiatives to drive long-term change, in an op-ed for Crain's Cleveland Business. Read it here: https://conta.cc/3PAMCjB
'Understanding, reaching and keeping talent has never felt more important. A better tomorrow for the people and businesses of Northeast Ohio is possible. To reach it, we must recognize the value of the people in our workforce and harness the power of place,' Bethia Burke writes.
05/31/2022
In the ongoing quest to understand , we know at least some of them just can't *get* to work. The good news? The Paradox Prize tested and proved eight strategies that employers of all sizes can use to improve worker mobility and gain a competitive edge. Join us June 16 to learn how your business can overcome the transportation paradox to improve equity, modernize benefits and make sustained headway in today's talent war. Register now at
Transportation and the Quest for Talent: Putting the Lessons of The Paradox Prize to Work.
05/16/2022
Too many people in Northeast Ohio face the paradox of “no car, job job; no job, no car.” Launched in June 2019, the $1 million Paradox Prize competition proved this paradox is solvable, but there is more we can do as a region to improve individuals’ access to jobs. Learn more at a special event on Thursday, June 16, put on by the Fund and Crain’s Content Studio. Register here: https://buff.ly/3yqfHbw
Transportation and the Quest for Talent: Putting the Lessons of The Paradox Prize to Work.
02/21/2022
Akron METRO Regional Transit Authority is redesigning its bus service to make it more useful to more people by focusing services where people travel most in the community. Greater Akron/Summit residents: Take 10 minutes to take the survey: https://buff.ly/3JxCWTq
02/18/2022
Next Friday, Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority General Manager and CEO India Birdsong will be discussing what's next for Cleveland's public transit system. Join in person or watch the livestream: https://buff.ly/3H2BsyS
02/08/2022
For employers competing for talent, transportation can be a game-changer. Two companies in Avon Lake are employing some of the same strategies tested in Paradox Prize pilots to close the transportation gap for disconnected workers. https://buff.ly/3gyfR6A
12/13/2021
More low-income people were forced to find work further away from their homes during the pandemic and especially during the state shutdown last year. See how the Paradox Prize pilot led by The Centers and Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority along with Sway Mobility has worked to bridge the transportation gap in NEO.
More and more jobs throughout Northeast Ohio are hiring, but for many the struggle of finding applicants with reliable transportation, transportation costs and long work commutes remain.
12/07/2021
Transportation pilot makes case for greater fare equity: The collaboration between Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority and The Centers demonstrated how lives can change when access to transportation is more affordable. Read it on Crain's Cleveland https://buff.ly/3EBtHzI
11/18/2021
Honored to receive a Vibrant NEO Champion Award today from the Northeast Ohio Sustainable Communities Consortium. Congratulations to the other honorees, Eastgate Council of Governments, , Rails to Trails, and . Such great examples of efforts and collaborations that are making Northeast Ohio more equitable and sustainable.
11/16/2021
Your next best welder, computer programmer or nurse aide may not have a vehicle to get to you. Are you missing out on quality talent? Learn more at paradoxprize.com.
11/15/2021
The Centers, Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority and Sway Mobility have teamed up for this pilot to provide transportation for training, interviews, jobs, and other supports. Learn more about Career Access Navigation:
The Centers teamed up with the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority (GCRTA) and Sway Mobility to offer individuals coming to its El Barrio Workforce Development Center access to transportation to get to training, interviews, jobs, and other needed supports to help them retain employment once...
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Long and costly commutes. Workers who don’t always show up on time. Poor air quality. Strained municipal budgets. These are realities for many workers, companies and municipalities, the results of fragmented, unaligned development throughout Northeast Ohio. For decades, industrial, commercial and residential development has migrated outward, but there has been no net increase in jobs or population to substantiate the regional spread.
The result: Jobs are farther and farther away from where people live, which creates a disconnect between people and the economy. The disconnect exacerbates racial inequities, limits economic mobility, harms the region’s businesses, and diminishes the overall health of the economy.
For residents, it leads to untenable choices: a commute by public transit that can be as long as three hours a day, an expensive commute by car that can consume more than an hour’s worth of wages, or a significantly smaller set of employment options. Residents spend between 24 percent and 29 percent of their income on transportation, a large part of which is the cost of commuting to work. Too many residents find themselves stuck in an intractable scenario: no car, no job; no job, no car.
The hardest hit residents? People of color. Racially motivated national and local policies have driven segregated development patterns and community disinvestment, and prevented people of color, particularly black Northeast Ohioans, from building wealth. Regional areas of economic distress are disproportionately populated by black residents and the fastest growing job hubs are located in communities that are disproportionately white. This amounts to distance discrimination.
Meanwhile, the increased distance between people and jobs reduces access to workforce and creates hiring and retention challenges for the region’s employers. Long commutes increase turnover and, as a result, the cost of doing business.
Seamless Mobility
We can eradicate The Transportation Paradox if we embrace seamless mobility solutions. We are no longer living in a world where transportation options need to be limited by the choice between individualized car ownership or a traditional bus. Potential alternative options include ride-sharing solutions like SHARE, neighborhood-based designs like EmpowerBus, car/van-pooling services like Enterprise RideShare, and on-demand services like Uber and Lyft. In addition, data platforms and predictive analytics make responsive route planning possible. Done right, in conjunction with an effective, efficient public transportation system, mobility solutions have the potential to dramatically increase prospects for economic advancement for Northeast Ohio’s un- and underemployed residents and improve the ability for area businesses to fill thousands of open jobs across the region.
The Paradox Prize
The mission of the Paradox Prize is to inspire innovations and eradicate paradoxes that bind our region’s economy.
In June, the Fund for Our Economic Future, the National Fund for Workforce Solutions, Greater Cleveland Partnership, The Lozick Family Foundation, and DriveOhio will launch an up to $1 million, multi-year challenge to invest in big ideas that help Northeast Ohioans stranded economically by their geography connect to tens of thousands of open positions. More information on how to apply coming soon.
