West Virginia University students living in the highly-populated, off-campus student housing area of Valley View will be better served by a new demonstration bus route that will run every 15 minutes between Sunnyside and the football stadium. The route will begin March 31 and run through May 9.


Mountain LinesValley View Linebus will pick up passengers at the Life Sciences Building and travel Stewart Street, Willowdale and Valley View before heading down Chestnut Ridge and Stewartstown Roads to Falling Runwith frequent stops along the way.


WVU recognizes the importance of this service to our students, the community and the environment, and that is why WVU is providing the funding necessary to support Mountain Lines newest route,said WVU President Mike Garrison.By supporting this route financially and encouraging students to take advantage of this free service, it will allow WVU to do its part to help alleviate parking congestion and also get several hundred cars off of the Morgantown roads.


The route will not go downtown or by the Mountainlair, and will operate from 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday for a six-week period.


If the trial program is successful over the remaining weeks of the spring semester, it will become a permanent service, officials say.


Our goal is to see if there is interest on the part of students to use a service like this as opposed to driving a car to a private parking lot and paying a fee,said Hugh Kierig, director of WVU Transportation and Parking.With the recent discussions in the community about ways to address some of our traffic woes, this plan offers one small, but practical solution.


Student Government Association President Jason Parsons, who was instrumental in initiating the project, urged students living in this area to take advantage of the new service.


There are so many new and existing housing units located along Stewart Street and leading up to the stadiumaround the Valley View loop and back to campus,Parsons said.By providing these hundreds of students with a transportation alternative, we could potentially be taking dozens upon dozens of cars off the roadand not only lightening the traffic flow but freeing up parking and better serving our student population. I’ve heard several students speak up about the necessity to create practical solutions to transport students from Valley View to downtown and I’m anxious to hear what students are saying about the new route.


Students as well as employees with valid WVU IDs ride the local transit system free, with funds supplemented by the University.


A complete listing of Mountain Line routes can be found online athttp://www.busride.org/; special bus routes for WVU students and employees can be accessed at:http://www.wvu.edu/transportation/mountainline.html.