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The Personal Rapid Transit (PRT) system is WVU’s primary transit solution, transporting approximately 12,000 riders daily, including students, employees and visitors.
The PRT system originated as an experimental project to address WVU’s transportation challenges and to serve as a national demonstration of innovative public transit solutions.
Operational since October 1975, the PRT is the first large-scale automated guideway transit system in the United States.
Dr. Samy Elias, a WVU industrial engineering professor, played a pivotal role in securing funding for the PRT project and overseeing the development of its concept. The project was funded by the U.S. Department of Transportation and designed and constructed by Boeing.
Phase I, dedicated on October 24, 1972, operated between Walnut Street and the Evansdale campus. Phase II, completed in July 1979, extended the tracks to the Health Sciences Center.
Watch “A Ride of the Future,” produced in 1977 by Ellis Dungan for WVU.
Today, the PRT is an automated people mover that connects three key areas of WVU’s Morgantown campus and the city’s central business district. The system features 67 rubber-tired, electrically powered vehicles traveling on 8.7 miles of dedicated guideway between five stations: Walnut, Beechurst, Engineering, Towers and Health Sciences.
Since its opening in 1975, the PRT has provided over 100 million passenger trips, significantly reducing vehicle congestion on Morgantown’s streets.
Patricia Nixon Cox, daughter of President Richard Nixon, participated in one of the first demonstration rides.
Over 100 million trips have been taken on the PRT since 1975.
Approximately 12,000 riders use the PRT daily during the school year.
The PRT has traveled an estimated 40 million miles since its inception.
The system’s 67 vehicles are built on a Dodge truck chassis.
Each vehicle accommodates eight seated passengers and up to 15 passengers in total.
The PRT reaches speeds of up to 33 mph.
The full ride from Walnut Street station to Health Sciences station takes about 11.5 minutes.
The system is powered by environmentally friendly electric motors..
During the 2023-2024 academic year, the PRT recorded a 98.7% availability rate during operating hours.
Photo of a published article featuring the PRT as an innovation in transportation, taken at the PRT Operations Center in Morgantown, WV.
With around 12,000 riders daily, the all-electric PRT reduces traffic congestion and cuts campus CO2 emissions by nearly 2,200 tons annually, according to a recent study.
Replacing PRT service would require at least 34 buses on an average day or 40 buses running every 2.5 minutes during special events like football games.
The PRT’s environmental impact is equivalent to:
In 2016-2017, the PRT’s original mercury vapor lighting was replaced with LED lights in stations and along the guideway. This upgrade reduced energy consumption by 50% and increased light levels by 25%, enhancing both efficiency and safety.
In June 2024, WVU received $6.4 million from the U.S. Department of Transportation to fund PRT renovations.
The planned work includes aesthetic and structural updates to stations, platforms, staircases, elevators and guideway components. The University aims to complete these renovations by 2030, with the work spread over several years. These updates will address essential maintenance needs, ensuring the PRT remains a reliable and sustainable transit system for the WVU community well into the future.
Get a glimpse of what the Morgantown campus looked like in the 1970s.
