WESTOVER, W.Va. — The passage of Monongalia County’s first public transit levy avoids route cuts and could lead to expansion.
In May, voters approved a 5-year, $9 million levy for the Mountain Line Transit Authority. It was the largest of six property tax levies on the ballot and one of four that passed.
In pitching the plan, Mountain Line’s General Manager Dave Bruffy said it was critical to keep buses on the road and provide routes to an underserved part of the county.
At a Tuesday, June 14 public hearing, residents will learn about a plan coordinated with Operation Welcome Home, PRO Performance, Mylan Park, Stepping Stones, Pro Medical and PACE Enterprises.
“We had a meeting with those agencies to try to determine what their transportation needs are immediately. And, we wanted to put together a preliminary service schedule that would benefit them, their clients, constituents and customers,” Bruffy explained on WAJR’s Morgantown AM.
The levy, generating $1.8 million annually, can help in meeting the long-time demand from those six agencies.
“We’ve known there’s been a need there for a number of years. I would get at least annual phone calls from all the administrators and directors of those agencies asking what we could do about service. This was my happy time when I could call them and ask them when they could meet so we can start to plan this service,” Bruffy remarked.
At the 1:00 p.m. meeting in Mountain Line’s Westover offices, residents will learn how the agency plans to expand routes.
“We know that we need about 12 runs a day in that area. We’re looking at extending our Green Line service which runs through Westover. It would provide us 3 trips an hour service through Westover to the Morgantown Mall and then we would continue on to Mylan Park,” explained Bruffy.
The route would initially include travel on I-79 from the Westover exit to the Star City exit.
However, when an interchange opens connecting the University Towne Center and Monongalia County Ball Park to the newly developing West Ridge Business Park, the route will be amended.
“We would be able to eventually cut directly through the park which will save us some time and let us provide service to all the news jobs and employment everyone is talking about in those new parks,” Bruffy added.
The interchange is expected to open in August.