West Virginia University's PRT will be undergoing new updates on its operating system to make more vehicles available and increase its reliability.
Its operating system is composed of two parts: the vehicle control and communications subsystem and the propulsion system. Both components are still analog and have seen little change since construction in the 1970s.
The new updates will change to a mostly digital operating system, said John Jeffrey, PRT project manager.
The new VCCS is being designed by Azimuth Inc., a Morgantown engineering company. A prototype of the propulsion system is being built by Bombardier of Pittsburgh. Both components will undergo rigorous testing, Jeffrey said.
"Our goal here, is simply put, to get a passenger from point A to point B in a safe, reliable transportation system," Jeffrey said.
The timing of the updates will depend upon when funding is received from the Federal Transit Administration. The onboard computers are currently on schedule to be available in the fall of this year, he said.
The total overall cost of the project is approximately $92 million, said Hugh Kierig, Director of Transportation and Parking at WVU. The onboard computer system updates will cost about $3 million, and the propulsion system updates will cost approximately $7 million.
The project is being funded by a grant Federal Transit Administration, as well as allocated student transportation fee monies, according to a press release.
The project's main objective is to bring the PRT to current technology standards.
"The PRT is 35 years old and in need of an update," Kierig said. "The master plan identified what options were available to us and how we could go about making that a reality."
The PRT has been in service since 1975, and its 73 cars are built on Dodge truck chassis, according to WVU's transportation and parking Web site.
The project is expected to be completed within the next three years, Jeffrey said.
For more information on the PRT, visit http://transportation.wvu.edu/prt.
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