KANAWHA COUNTY, WV (WOWK) – There may be an alternative to the Kanawha Valley Regional Transit Authority’s customers losing 11 routes.

The KRT’s Comprehensive Operational Analysis (COA) Committee is set to meet again before the KRT board’s next meeting, which is set for 8:45 a.m. on Thursday, Sept. 26. KRT Executive Director Sean Hill says the committee meeting date will be announced sometime next week.

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Hill says the goal of the meeting will be to narrow down potential changes to KRT Routes down to a “specific recommendation.” Prior to the KRT board meeting on Sept. 26, the new recommendation will be presented at a public hearing at 4 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 25 at the KRT headquarters.

According to Hill, the COA Committee is currently looking at two options that would both halve the frequency of secondary KRT routes. One of those options would also eliminate Sunday services.

The routes where the frequency would be cut in half are the same routes that were originally on the chopping block altogether.

As the two options currently on the table both keep all 11 routes somewhat operational, the main debate for the COA Committee now is whether Sunday services should remain available.

During a public meeting on Thursday, July 11, KRT officials said they are in a $1.3 million deficit due to “underperforming routes.”

KRT Executive Director Sean Hill said during that meeting that in total, KRT spends $17,072,675 annually on a combination of labor, fringe benefits, services, materials and supplies, utilities, casualty and liabilities, and miscellaneous expenses.

In July, Hill said their revenue sources in total is $15,775,882, coming from a combined state funding, advertising and charter, investments, state opioid response, passenger fares and federal via FTA. He also said the largest contributor is the Kanawha County Safety Levy, and about 2% of their revenue comes from state funding.

The total deficit was $1,316,793. Hill said that given these numbers, KRT is operating by, essentially, “paying our bills with our savings account.”

During the meeting, Hill said annual ridership, according to 2022 data, is at 963,973. That is down from pre-pandemic levels.

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