The primary West Virginia University mass transit system — the Personal Rapid Transit or PRT — will soon see renovations, thanks to a $6.4 million Congressionally Directed Spending award from the U.S. Department of Transportation.
A staple of the Morgantown Campus, the PRT will receive upgrades to further modernize the system and provide an enhanced experience to passengers. This work will include aesthetic and infrastructural updates on stations, platforms, staircases, elevators and guideway components.
“We are thrilled and thankful to have been awarded this funding to update many areas of the PRT,” Director of Transportation Jeremy Evans said. “The PRT is a critical transportation system for our campus community and these upgrades will ensure we can continue to best serve our passengers.”
Because much of the work can only be completed in the summer when the PRT is closed to passenger service, the University will spread this work over several years with a goal of completion by 2030.
Passengers can expect to see updates to the Beechurst station when the PRT reopens this fall. In the coming years, updates to the remaining PRT stations will be modeled after the Beechurst station.
The PRT opened in 1975 and transports approximately 12,000 passengers daily across all three areas of the Morgantown Campus and downtown Morgantown. During the 2023-2024 academic year, the PRT recorded a remarkable 98.7% availability rate during operating hours. These funds will allow for needed maintenance to ensure the PRT can continue to serve as the University’s primary mass transit system for years to come.
The request for funding was secured by U.S. Sens. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) and Joe Manchin (I-W.Va.) through the Fiscal Year 2024 appropriations cycle.