Economic development nonprofit offering prizes for transportation solutions

The Fund for Our Economic Future is putting $1 million behind an effort to help solve what it calls the Transportation Paradox: "No car, no job; no job, no car." The economic development nonprofit has created what it's calling the Paradox Prize to reward ideas that help Northeast Ohioans stranded economically by geography connect to open job positions. Using a web portal which opened June 3, the organization is soliciting ideas to help more people access or keep high-quality jobs. Unfavorable land-use patterns and the outmigration of jobs, the organization said, have contributed to a spatial mismatch that makes it difficult, if not impossible, for some people to find or keep a job. Most jobs now require employees to have a car. Without a car, they face a commute by public transit that can be as long as three hours a day or significantly limited, often lower-paying, employment options. "Too many residents find themselves stuck in an intractable scenario," said Bethia Burke, vice president of the fund, in a press release. "No car, no job; no job, no car."