West Virginia University - Monticola Yearbook (Morgantown, WV)

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l9Ff» If Mrf yS«;V-;,f ' ;X. 5J M 0 The Towers station was completed under Phase II. The majority is serviced and we try to keep our breakdown time to a minimal, said Bates. ' HT he PRT, the first of its kind in the world. This WVU-Morgantown System, a fully automated mass transit design has been visited by 32 foreign countries and several American cities. The Kobe Rapid Transit System at the International Ocean Exposition on Okinawa was the first to be built utili- zing the PRT technology. The city of Los Angeles, Calif, is also planning a similar system. In 1972 the National Society of Pro- fessional Engineers named the PRT sys- tem as one of the nations top ten outstanding engineering achievements 12 PRT

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Tests? What are they? It ' s only the beginning of school! The typical greeting to returning friends. Beginning of School 11

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LINHED RTLHET This system is several years ahead of our time, ' said Bates. I think the PRT is fantastic! , said Robert Bates, director of the PRT. Bates also said it is a very flexible transportation for a large number of students. of the year. In the mid-1960 ' s, engineers and traffic experts began talking about a new transit system. Dr. Samy E.G. EMas, a Claude Worthington Benedum pro- fessor of transportation at WVU, con- ceived the PRT System. Dr. Elias came to the U.S. from Egypt in 1956 and joined the WVU faculty in 1965. He and the College of Engineering drafted a proposal to the Secretary of Trans- portation. In luly, 1969, the proposal was granted by the U.S. Department of Transportation. Contracts to build the PRT System were awarded by the De- partment of Transportation and ground breaking ceremonies were held at WVU on Oct. 9, 1971. The system was designed by Frederic Harris Inc. of Stamford, Conn. The system is present- ly under control by the Boeing Aero- space Company, but will be taken over in March 1980 by WVU. Contracts to- taling about $60 million were recorded during Phase I of the PRT. During the 1979 Summer, Phase I was linked at last by Phase II. This com- pleted the full plan for the PRT and linked all the stations as one system. Phase II made it possible to ride from the downtown Walnut Street Station to the Med. Center. The complete system consists of 73 vehicles, 8.7 miles of single lane guide- ways and five passenger stations. The average number of running vehicles at peak time has been 39 and operates 97.1 percent of the time. There is a peak capacity of 1,100 passengers in 20 minutes and vehicles can be spaced at a minimum of 15 seconds apart. Each vehicle has a capacity of eight seated and 12 standing, with a maximum load weighing 11,700 pounds. Its body is made of fiber glass and can reach speeds up to 30 miles per hour. A PDP- 11 central computer controls the elec- tronically motored vehicles and their positions. As students continually wait for the sign to read Towers, a PRT car from Beechurst pulls up. PRT 13