West Virginia University

PRT System

Because the Morgantown campus is split into three campuses (Downtown, Evansdale, Health Sciences) one of the major icons at the school is a Personal rapid transit system to link them.

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In 1974, Boeing began construction of the first major PRT project in Morgantown, West Virginia, designed to shuttle students between WVU's three campuses. The Downtown and Evansdale campuses, both located in the valley of the Monongahela River, were already fully developed. Because it proved impossible to develop any more valley land, WVU expanded to a separate parcel a couple of miles away on the other side of a ridge.

Related Topics:
1974 - Boeing - Morgantown, West Virginia - Monongahela River

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The WVU PRT has been in continuous operation since 1975, with about 15,000 riders per day (as of 2003). The system uses about 70 vehicles, with an advertised capacity of 20 people each (although the real number is more like 15). The system has five stations (Walnut, Beechurst, Engineering, Towers, and Medical) and a 4 mile (6 km) track. The vehicles are rubber-tired and run along electrified rails. Steam heating keeps the elevated guideway free of snow and ice. Most students habitually use it. This system was not sold to other sites because the heated track has proven too expensive. The system will occasionally break down, yet it is usually only for about ten minutes. Otherwise, it is reliable to transportation students between Downtown, Evansdale and Health Sciences.

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The PRT has also been the recipient of favorable recognition. The National Society of Professional Engineers named the PRT one of the top 10 engineering achievements of 1972, and in 1998 The New Electric Railway Journal picked the WVU PRT over Disney World's monorail as the best people mover.

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