Multiple transportation options offered for students

Knowing how to maneuver around campus is an important skill for freshman survival at West Virginia University.

With a limited number of available parking spaces and classes spread across two campuses, public and campus transportation, such as MountainLine and campus buses, and the PRT, are the best options to get from place to place.

"WVU offers a wide variety of transportation," said David Barnett, bus service supervisor of WVU's Department of Transportation and Parking. "I think ultimately, and a lot of students would probably disagree with me, the PRT would be the best source to get from campus to campus."

The PRT has stations located in downtown Morgantown at Walnut Street and at the downtown campus on Beechurst Avenue.

On the Evansdale campus, PRT stations are located at the Evansdale Resident Complex (Towers), Engineering Sciences and Health Sciences.

The PRT runs Monday through Friday from 6:30 a.m. to 10:15 p.m. and Saturday 9:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. The PRT is closed on Sunday.

Access to the PRT is free for all WVU students with a Mountaineer ID card.

"The PRT is going to be the fastest, quickest way. Getting from the downtown campus to the Evansdale campus is going to take just a matter of minutes on the PRT," Barnett said."You could be sitting in traffic for 15 minutes on a bus or in a personal vehicle on Beechurst and you would be watching all the PRTs going by."

If maintenance or other technical problems implicate PRT schedules, University buses are dispatched to cover the PRT routes, he said.

MountainLine buses are the second form of transportation Barnett recommended for students.

MountainLine routes are more spread out and offer a larger variety of destinations. Using MountainLine buses is a good way to venture off campus and see more, he said.

MountainLine buses also have longer operating hours than the PRT on some routes.

The Blue and Gold Route 38 "Tripper" buses are an alternative option to the PRT, said Maria Smith, marketing officer for MountainLine.

The buses runs every 20 minutes Monday through Friday from 6:40 a.m. to 8:40 p.m. and every 10 minutes from 8:10 a.m. to 3:10 p.m., Smith said.

These connect Towers, Lincoln Hall, the Law School, 8th Street, Grant Avenue, Summit Hall, Life Sciences Building, Campus Drive, Beechurst Avenue, the Creative Arts Center, Engineering and Agricultural Sciences.

The Campus PM Bus Route 1 provides late night trips every 30 minutes on Thursday, Friday and Saturday from 6 p.m. to 2:40 a.m., Smith said.

The route connects Towers, Fieldcrest, Ruby Hospital, Valley View, Stewart Street, Sunnyside, Mountainlair, High Street and Spruce Street, she said.

If students are interested in going to the University Town Center or the Morgantown Mall, the Orange Line Bus Route 4 offers services to these locations, Smith said.

Downtown PM Mall Route 2 runs from 6 p.m. to midnight every hour connecting Towers, Mountainlair, Westover terminal and the Morgantown Mall, she said.

Students can also take the Grey Line Route 29 to Pittsburgh twice daily, Smith said.

"Ultimately, your two top transportation choices are going to be the PRT and the MountainLine Transit," Barnett said.

"I would suggest that the new freshman take both of the opportunities for each of the identities transportation offers."

 

Samantha Cossick contributed to this article.