Mass transit is expected to play a big role in getting thousands of people to jobs at the two fulfillment centers Amazon is building in Northeast Ohio.
Amazon is planning to build a $177 million center on the site of the old Randall Park Mall and a smaller center at the old Euclid Square Mall. Between them, they’re expected to employ 3,000 people.
Shaker Heights planning director Joyce Braverman says the city had no idea of Amazon’s plans when it built its new Intermodal Transit Center for bus and train service.
But she says a discussion with the planning director in Boone County, Ky., reinforced the need.
“They have six fulfillment centers and 5,000 jobs for Amazon and they cannot fill the jobs, and Boone County, Ky., is near the Cincinnati airport, there’s not great transit service there at all, you need a car to get to work,” Braverman says.
She says the bus line and Blue Line train should provide straight access for residents of Cleveland and the inner-ring suburbs to get to the jobs in North Randall.
Cuyahoga County and Cleveland have also put in a joint proposal for Amazon’s second headquarters, which is expected to employ 50,000 people.
