Kanawha Valley Regional Transportation Authority

KVRTA is a public transportation authority created in 1970 began operations in 1971 by Kanawha County and the City of Charleston. KVRTA is governed by a 13-member board. The county commission appoints four board members, the City of Charleston appoints three members, and the towns of South Charleston, Nitro, St. Albans, Dunbar, Montgomery, and Belle appoint one member each. KVRTA serves Kanawha County and portions of Fayette and Putnam Counties. The service area is approximately 913 square miles with a population of approximately 192,000. Approximately 88 percent of Kanawha County’s residents live within three-quarters of a mile of a KVRTA route. KVRTA operates all service in-house. It operates a network of 23 local routes that include a downtown circulator route called the Trolley (which is served by rubber-tired trolleys) and an employee shuttle to the state capitol complex, which operates when the legislature is in session, and a commuter route between Charleston and Huntington. The local routes are oriented around the commercial center of Charleston. Except for four holidays, service is provided seven days a week. Service begins at 4:15 a.m. and continues until 12:55 a.m. the next day. Complementary paratransit service, known as Kanawha Alternative Transit, or KAT, operates the same days and hours. KVRTA has zoned fares, with a fixed-route base fare of $1.00. Fares increase in $0.25 increments by zone to a maximum of $2.50. Transfers are $0.10. The fare on the trolley route is $0.75 and the fares on the commuter route are $3.00 and $2.00. The Capitol Shuttle is free. Reduced fares are offered on local routes, including the trolley route, during all hours to elderly persons, persons with disabilities, and Medicare cardholders. The reduced base zone fare is $0.50, with successive fares either exactly half or rounded down. Transfers are $0.05. The fare for ADA paratransit service is twice the comparable fixed-route fare. KVRTA also offers discount passes and reduced student fares. KVRTA operates a fleet of 54 vehicles for fixed-route service. The fleet consists of 30- and 35-foot transit coaches, minibuses, and five rubber-tired trolleys. The peak requirement is 47 vehicles. KVRTA also has 15 cutaway vans for KAT. KVRTA’s operations, maintenance, and administrative headquarters are located on Fourth Avenue in Charleston. The Laidley Street Transit Mall in downtown Charleston is the hub and transfer center for all routes. KVRTA operates one commuter bus route called Intelligent Transit (IT) between Huntington and Charleston in partnership with Tri-State Transit Authority (TTA) and the West Virginia Department of Transportation. KVRTA operates the evening round trip and TTA operates the morning round trip. The buses used in the service are outfitted with commuter seats and wireless internet access and wrapped with the IT logo.