About 30 people — and counting — have been spared the walk along Infirmary Road since Emerald Transportation started twice daily runs about a month ago.
The rides are for the relatively few people who are unable to arrange their own transportation after having been released from the Portage County Jail. The jail is located on Infirmary Road, more than two miles from the nearest bus stop.
Late last fall, the Portage County Sheriff’s Office ended its practice of taking newly released prisoners who didn’t have their own rides to the center of Ravenna, which had sometimes proved problematic if people couldn’t get home from the city. But the switch left people to walk along Infirmary Road, a narrow, poorly lit two-lane stretch of blacktop with no sidewalks and a narrow berm.
Several motorists and Infirmary Road residents voiced their concerns about the people walking the road, especially at night, and one man suffered a medical emergency as he was trying to hike to his destination.
Portage County Common Pleas Court Judge Laurie Pittman and Family & Community Services Director Mark Frisone, along with other judges and stakeholders, met with the PCSO to see what could be done.
Turns out, quite a bit.
From Dec. 23, 2024, to Jan 29, 2025, Emerald Transportation, an arm of F&CS, transported 30 people from the county jail to PARTA’s transportation hub at University Hospitals in Ravenna. The riders are presented with a bus pass and are instructed as to how to interpret relevant bus schedules, which they are also given.
Family & Community Services employee Rodney Mack transported eight of those people from the hospital parking lot directly to their destinations.
Frisone said he had not thought the need for rides would be overwhelming and was not surprised that, at most, three or four people would need a pickup on a given day. The numbers, he said, could be cyclical depending on the time of year.
Frisone stated his intent to gather another month of data and share all the numbers with county judges, commissioners and the sheriff’s office.
“We’re going to have a conversation,” Frisone said. “We agreed to go twice a day, in the morning and in the evening, but I think maybe three of the 30 have been released at that earlier time. I’m going to suggest that we at least curtail the early one because there just simply isn’t the need.”
If the morning run should at some time prove necessary, Emerald Transportation would restore it, Frisone said. As it is, he stated his belief that newly released people are able to wait for the evening run.
Since Emerald Transportation started its daily runs, Frisone said he hadn’t heard any reports of recently released prisoners walking up or down Infirmary Road.
“We’re fine doing it. It works right now. It’s not a huge inconvenience for us and, you know, put a price tag on somebody getting hurt walking up Infirmary Road. This is insignificant compared to something that might tragically happen,” Frisone said.
Riders have been grateful to climb into Emerald Transportation vans “because in each and every one of their cases, they did not have anybody else to come get them,” Frisone said, adding that PARTA helped coordinate its buses with Akron’s for several riders who were from Summit County.
“To me it’s a success. It’s the humane thing to do, and we’re more than happy to do it,” he said. “When everybody works together, we can get things done. You can overcome issues and problems and do good things.”
Noting that anything new “takes some time to work out the kinks,” Jail Administrator Bryan Morgenstern said the ride program has been going well.
Judge Pittman, who lives on Infirmary Road and regularly saw people she recognized from her courtroom walking the street, said she has seen only two people walking since the ride program started.
“It’s cut down dramatically. It’s been a great help,” she said.
Pittman asks each defendant she sees if they have a safe, secure ride upon being released. She writes detailed release orders for everyone who doesn’t, coordinating the time with Emerald Transportation’s scheduled appearance.
Mack, an F&CS hourly employee, accompanies the people being transported by Emerald Transportation and offers re-entry support services to those who need and want such resources.
Mack said he keeps his personal vehicle in the UH parking lot and, on his own time and dime, has transported eight Emerald Transportation riders from UH directly to destinations in Kent, Streetsboro, Akron and Cleveland.
Because most of Mack’s transports occur at night after buses to Akron and Cleveland have stopped, Mack said he utilizes court and F&CS programs to get people shelter for the night.
“I was there [in jail] before,” Mack said. “I have a heart for people. I have compassion for people. I mean 6 in the afternoon, they don’t have any family, they don’t have no money, they don’t know how they gonna get to Cleveland.”
Lacking a ride and resources, there is no good outcome, he said.
“They’re gonna be sick, and it’s gonna be all over again. Step outside in the cold, commit more crimes to get home. So I take them home,” he said.
Shortly before the rides program started, Morgenstern indicated his intent to construct a bus shelter on Justice Center property where recently released people could wait for their rides.
On Feb. 5, he stated that inmates who participate in the jail’s Inmate Training Program will begin working on the shelter once the weather breaks. ITP is designed to teach prisoners practical skills they can use to gain employment upon release. In the event of inclement weather, recently released people will still be permitted to use the Justice Center’s lobby area, he said.
Wendy DiAlesandro is a former Record Publishing Co. reporter and contributing writer for The Portager.