PRT to reopen after being closed for maintenance

West Virginia University’s Personal Rapid Transit system will be resuming services Tuesday, May 29 after the completion of several maintenance projects.

The PRT has been shut down for repairs since May 7. The PRT, which has been in use since 1975, has been shut down due to repairs required to sustain long-term use of the system.

The repairs are general maintenance to prepare the system for the fall semester, said Robert DeWitt, electronics and operations manager of the PRT.

"We’ve got some new propulsion modules coming in," DeWitt said. "We have some new on-board computers, as well."

This maintenance is part of a $15 million ongoing project known as the PRT Master Plan, which intends to increase the dependability of the PRT system. At the highest levels, more than 31,000 riders enter the PRT system daily during the school year.

Dewitt said the plan is to have some of this project completed by August.

"Some of the modules that are in the vehicles are very old; they’re 40 years old, and they’re ’60s technology and we’re unable to get parts, so part of the modernization is to replace these, so that’s what we’re doing," DeWitt said.

Due to the continued need for transportation between the PRT’s various locations, a shuttle service is offered in lieu of the PRT’s usual services. The shuttle stops are located at Mountaineer Station on Van Voorhis road, Towers Residential Hall, Engineering, the Mountainlair, Walnut Street and Beechurst Station. The shuttles run Monday-Friday 6:30 a.m.-6 p.m. and will operate Saturday 9 a.m.-5 p.m.

"We’re having a lot of good success with it, so by this fall we’re hoping to have a much more dependable system," DeWitt said.

Once the repairs are finished, the summer schedule will resume and the PRT will run 6:30 a.m.-6:15 p.m. Monday-Friday and 9:30 a.m.-5 p.m. on Saturdays.

In addition to the shuttle service, WVU students and faculty have continued access to Mountain Line bus service with a valid WVU ID.

For more information on the shuttle service or the PRT shutdown, contact the Department of Transportation and Parking at (304) 293-5502, or the PRT office at (304) 293-5011.