Transportation Landmarks: Morgantown Personal Rapid Transit

Beginning in 1975, the “PRT” as it is referred to locally has served to shuttle students between the Downtown, Evansdale (Engineering), and Health Sciences campuses of West Virginia University. Since 1975 over 60 million people have ridden the public transportation system (it receives some FTA funding) and on any given school day about 15,000 rides are taken.

The system takes 11.5 minutes to ride from end to end and the vehicles can travel up to 30 mph. Each of the vehicles is entirely electric and built on a 1973 Dodge truck chassis. Each vehicle seats eight passengers, but can hold up to 20 (though the record is 97).

A PRT vehicle

How the system works: There are five total stations. When a customer arrives at a station they either pay ($0.50 per ride for the general public) or swipe their WVU ID (those affiliated with the university ride free) and press a button to indicate the station they wish to ride to. Usually within a few moments a PRT car arrives in the station and a sign above the door indicates the destination of that car, matching the request of someone waiting for a PRT car, it then travels directly to that destination. This is what makes the system “personal” rapid transit and different from other urban bus and rail services.

The system is currently the only one in the United States and was built as an experiment. During the 1960s several government reports examined the feasibility of personal rapid transit (PRT) systems with very promising results. Coupling these results with the mounting traffic congestion in Morgantown it seemed like the perfect test site for the technology.  Construction began in 1970, however the fact the system required not-yet-fully-developed technology and the collaboration of a number of organizations (Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Boeing, Vetrol, Bendix, and F.R. Harris Engineering) both cost and time estimates were overrun.

The PRT infrastructure at Towers, which are largely freshman dorms at WVU

Despite the substantial cost overruns in the development and construction of the system, it has been a largely reliable and relatively inexpensive system to operate. It has also helped the university triple in enrollment since the 1960’s by improving mobility for students between campuses. Of course, there are groups that believe the PRT is a complete boondoggle. However, one would be hard pressed to find a transit system that has no enemies. A fundamental drawback to transit is the issue of the last mile, filling in the gap between the nearest station and your final destination. Furthermore, because of the nature of the PRT system, during peak periods, there can be delays in getting PRT vehicles to the stations with highest demand if they are already in use between two other stations.

But traffic congestion is a mounting problem in Morgantown, with the growth of the university has also come the development of other businesses in the area both to support the university and benefit from the human capital developed by the university. The PRT does help and expansion of the system has been discussed, although the costs are likely to be prohibitive due to the fact it is an orphan system.

Take a ride on the PRT! This video shows the PRT traveling around on March 30, 2009.