KRT Board votes to cancel Sunday services

UPDATE (9:27 a.m. on Thursday, Sept. 26): The KRT Board voted 12-1 on Thursday to cancel its Sunday services.

One-day passes will see an increase of $1 from $2.50 to $3.50, while 31-day passes will decrease from $60 to $50.

They will also be implementing an Uber-like option called KRT Plus.

These changes will be implemented in February 2025.

KANAWHA COUNTY, WV (WOWK) – The third public hearing on potential changes to the Kanawha Valley Regional Transportation Authority has wrapped up.

In an effort to solve a revenue deficit of about $1.3 million, the KRT Board is looking to shake up the way people ride the bus every day. An original proposal suggested cutting 11 routes, which caused a lot of concern from the public.

Now, however, they want to keep the routes, but make them less frequent based on how popular they are. The Board also suggested cutting Sunday services and increasing day passes by a dollar, from $2.50 to $3.50. The price for single-ride tickets would not change.

“I work at Burger King on Corridor G, and without that bus, I can’t go to work. And Corridor G, well, you all know that’s a fun road. And if they’re going to cut out the busses on Sunday, and not at least have KRT Plus, wow, okay. I’ll have to tell my employer that I can’t work Sundays,” said KRT rider Edward Woolwine.

The current proposal’s modifications would include having hours from 6 a.m. Mondays through 11 p.m. Saturdays and having a 30-minute frequency on weekdays for high-demand routes.

The LRT is also considering implementing a KRT Plus option that would be similar to Uber or Lyft with options to pick up a passenger in a small passenger vehicle. They have three options to consider:

• Making a fixed KRT Plus route, in which the vehicle would pick a passenger up at their door and take them to a point on the bus route for $1.25.
• “Same Zone Travel” which would pick up the passenger inside a certain zone of the county and take them to a destination within that same zone for $1.50.
• “Point of Interest Travel,” in which the passenger would be picked up in any zone to be taken to a fixed location, such as the airport.

The KRT Board will meet again Thursday morning to vote on accepting, rejecting or changing the proposals that came from the committee. If the changes do go into effect, they will start in February 2025.

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