What began as a mass transit prototype to accommodate West VirginiaUniversity students and alleviate traffic congestion in downtown Morgantown is turning 30.
Thats right. The West Virginia University Personal Rapid Transit, an electrically powered people-mover that winds around Morgantowns hilly terrain to link the Universitys three campuses, is celebrating the BIG THREE -O.
The first phase of the PRT was dedicated Oct. 24, 1972; Tricia Nixon, daughter of then-President Richard Nixon, was on board one of the five test cars for the first demonstration ride. Since then, the PRT has undergone expansions and renovations and managed to pick up a few honors along the way.
“For three decades the PRT has been serving the transportation needs of WVU students, faculty and staff and Morgantown residents,”said Bob Hendershot, assistant director of public safety and transportation services.”The system will remain a vital alternative mode of transportation as the University and city continue to grow.”
The PRT was the brain child of Samy E.G. Elias, then a WVU Claude Worthington Benedum Professor of Transportation who is now associate dean for research at the University of Nebraska-Lincolns College of Engineering and Technology. Elias was one of many engineers and traffic experts around the country exploring new transit systems to alleviate smog-ridden traffic congestion plaguing urban America.
He and his colleagues at the WVU College of Engineering proposed a guideway system of cars powered by electricity and controlled by computers as their transportation model. They also proposed Morgantown as the demonstration site.
The project �€and the site �€obtained approval from the federal government in July 1969, and grant money totaling $123.6 million began filtering in shortly thereafter to pay for studies and eventual construction.
Phase I of the system �€which consisted of 45 vehicles running from Walnut Street to the Evansdale Campus �€began carrying passengers in October 1975. Phase II �€which extended the system to the HealthSciencesCenter and added 28 more cars �€began running in July 1979.
In 1998, the PRT underwent a $5.2 million computer upgrade and other improvements, most noticeably a paint job transforming the systems passenger cars from a bland white to Mountaineer blue and gold.
To date, the PRT has transported more than 57 million passengers since its dedication 30 years ago. Its 71 cars carry an average 14,000 passengers a day over 8.7 miles of guideway, with stations at Beechurst Avenue, Walnut Street, Evansdale (engineering and Towers) and Heath Sciences.
The cost to ride the PRT is $63 for a four-month pass or 50 cents a ride. The cost is included in tuition and fees for students, who swipe their IDs to board the cars. Faculty and staff ride for free as part of their benefits package.
The PRT has attracted its share of recognition over the years. In 1972, the National Society of Professional Engineers named the system one of the nations top 10 engineering achievements of the year, and the PRT guideway across Monongahela Boulevard was cited as one of the 18 most beautiful new steel bridges to be built. In 1998, the PRT beat out Disney Worlds famed monorail as The New Electric Railway Journals pick for best overall people-mover. Elias, meanwhile, won the first Henry Gantt Medallion Award from the Institute of Industrial Engineers in July 2001 for his innovative design of the PRT .