By Stephen Smoot
For a half a century plus one year, Potomac Valley Transit Authority has served as the public transportation agency for the region. The “fleet” consisted of two buses and three borrowed vehicles.
Now, PVTA boasts 47 vehicles of all sizes, including buses, vans, and jeeps.
Origins started during the time when many older folks had memories of horses, carts, and cattle drives sharing the regional roads with automobiles. Now, PVTA looks ahead to a larger service area, serving more customers and communities for more reasons, and embracing a cleaner way to move people.
In recent years, when the former presidential administration tried to impose a green agenda through banning traditional gasoline powered vehicles, PVTA opted to comply through use of hydrogen buses. After testing electric vehicles and finding them insufficient in most ways for the needs of a West Virginia based fleet, PVTA submitted a grant application to plan and design a hydrogen hub facility to produce fuel for them and others.
“We’re in a wait and see what happens mode,” said Doug Pixler of the future of that project, On the day he spoke of it, President Donald Trump had placed a pause on federal grants and loans in an effort to reign in spending and determine a path forward. That produced a great deal of uncertainty, however, in the minds of those using those sources of funds.
He also shared that “the State thinks it’s a great project . . . we’ll see what happens on the federal side.”
PVTA received the first grant to plan and design a facility to produce hydrogen fuel with the plan to apply for a construction grant later.
“It’s not like wind and solar,” added Pixler, who went on to say “it’s going to take time to work through it all.”
Although one project has been shifted to neutral for the time being, a State of West Virginia public transit initiative has put PVTA into high gear.
“There’s a big push at the State level to get public transit in all 55 counties,” Pixler explained, saying this represents the biggest recent news for the service. Officials have started exploring expanding service to Tucker County and will likely make “a big push for Morgan County.”
Suzanne Park, an administrator with PVTA, added that “Tucker County will be an extremely different look” compared to how it serves current communities. With multiple population centers whose people often go between the two for work, service will likely not run door to door, but point to point.
Including Morgan County will raise questions for some. Most of the population lives on the eastern and central parts of the county, connected economically and socially to Berkeley and Jefferson counties. That, plus the congestion on West Virginia Route 9 between Berkeley Springs/Bath and Martinsburg would seem to make the Eastern Panhandle Transit Authority based in Berkeley as the better fit,
Federal regulations, however, define which types of services can serve urban or rural. EPTA, designated an urban service, cannot serve an area such as Morgan which is defined as rural. That gives PVTA, a rural service, the opening to expand.
Expanding the footprint will not come at a cost for communities currently using PVTA, however.
Pixler and Park explained how PVTA has continued to monitor the service needs of Pilgrim’s Pride employees working at the plant complex in Moorefield. A “huge increase in Pilgrim’s riders,” as Park stated, has also come with a new dynamic.
Large numbers have traditionally used bus service from Keyser, Romney, and even Cumberland. Now Pilgrim’s workings coming from those areas has declined somewhat. With Pilgrims constructing and purchasing housing for its employees in Hardy and Grant counties, service will adapt to meet the need.
Service has expanded tremendously in the past several years. In 2018, the total miles traveled added up to 765,075. By 2023, that number had rocketed to 980,809 with numbers of just over a million in 2024.
The demand for work routes has shown significant growth. In 2018, PVTA vehicles traveled almost 26,000 miles on these routes. Last year, the number totaled just under 80,000. Pilgrim’s Pride alone accounted for 214,268 miles and 47,860 riders. Those commuting via PVTA to Trex in Winchester added up to 294,407 miles and 31,439 passengers.
PVTA has its eye on two short term projects. One will establish service to bring riders to a dialysis center that may soon open in Hardy County. Details on that development remain unclear, however.
Another will focus on building a bus facility in Burlington where buses can both park and receive needed maintenance. The initial cost of constructing a facility will serve as an investment in future savings as vehicles will not burn gasoline on “dead head” miles back to the main facility in Petersburg.
For the long term, PVTA will continue to advance its hydrogen fuel goals if it can, but also needs to expand its facilities. Despite the growth in service and expansion of the vehicle fleet, the facility in Petersburg remains the same as when it was first constructed, except for gravel spread on a former grass lawn on the property to expand parking and maneuvering spaces.
Additionally, the size of each class of vehicle has expanded over the years. Buses, vans, and trucks all are much larger than their counterparts form the 1980s.
Finally, PVTA will continue to forge the most effective partnerships possible with health care facilities and those of higher education, with a focus on students at Potomac State College in Keyser.
