MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — West Virginia University officials have announced the PRT will not be in operation during the fall of 2020 due to concerns about COVID-19 spread.
WVU said Tuesday it will be use additional buses to take students between its various campuses. A schedule will be released soon.
“The platform gets very crowded with students, the cars are enclosed for about 15 minutes. There’s not a lot of air circulation,” said Dave Beaver, WVU’s senior associate vice president for auxiliary sevices.
PRT cars are small and often crowded when taking students in between stops from Walnut Street in downtown Morgantown to the WVU Health Sciences Center near Milan Puskar Stadium. Officials said using the system this fall is not a safe option.
To ensure the health & safety of our community, the PRT will not be in service this fall.
Instead, we will provide several bus routes, with safety measures in place, to transport you. Details on the bus routes are still being finalized & will be communicated here when released. pic.twitter.com/0Jrl0eFJON
— WVU PRT (@WVUPRTstatus) July 21, 2020
Buses from the area’s public transportation system, Mountain Line, will also be added to help transport students. Beaver said the university will use an additional 40 buses for transporting people across campus.
Mountain Line general manager Dave Bruffy said the bus services will have a normal schedule.
“Unfortunately, with social distancing on the bus, our capacity is dramatically decreased,” Bruffy said. “It will be a challenge for everyone this fall.”
According to WVU, buses will have limited capacity and students will be required to wear masks/face coverings, exercise social distancing and avoid touching surfaces on the bus. All drivers will be required to wear masks or face coverings as well.
When students get off the bus they are advised to wash hands or use hand sanitizer with at least 60 percent alcohol.
Buses will have hand sanitizer on board, Plexiglas shields and the bus will be disinfected after each shift.
There will also be pickup locations for Uber and Lyft at the Bennett Tower Loop and 652 North High Street.