photo by: Photo by Eric Ayres

OVRTA and EORTA will expand its transportation services for a six-month trial period starting Jan. 3. Not only will a route extend into Moundsville, but the authorities will offer van service for people going to and from work early in the morning and late in the evening.

WHEELING – Lisa Weishar and her staff at the Ohio Valley Regional Transportation Authority didn’t waste any time after a public hearing last month. In that meeting, many discussed the need for OVRTA and the Eastern Ohio Regional Transit Authority to expand their services to help people get to their jobs and ease their path to finding jobs via public transportation.

Weishar, OVRTA and EORTA’s executive director, said that, right after that November meeting, she and her staff started brainstorming ideas. Those ideas have now become reality, at least on a trial basis.

OVRTA and EORTA have announced a pair of expanded services that will help those dependent on public transportation with employment. Not only is there a new route to the Department of Motor Vehicles office in Moundsville, but the two authorities will provide van transportation earlier in the morning and later in the evening for people who need to get to their jobs or job interviews.

The trial run for both will last six months, from Jan. 3 to July 3.

Weishar said what she and other OVRTA/EORTA officials heard during the public hearing showed them that the authorities needed to get the ball rolling on expanding services.

“It really did,” Weishar said. “I thought, well, maybe we aren’t going where they need to go. We heard everybody’s plea. (Businesses) can’t find employees and those employees can’t find ways to get to and from work.

“We are public transportation,” she added, “so we’re doing the best we can.”

OVRTA/EORTA will offer rides to work or job interviews between 6-9 a.m. and 6-9 p.m., Monday through Saturday, which is outside the normal bus route times. The transportation will be provided in the OVRTA/EORTA West Virginia or Ohio service areas.

People can reserve a spot in one of the vans by calling Kevin Davis at 304-232-2190 to register. Riders can reserve their spots up to two weeks prior to the date they need transportation. The cost is $2.60 each time a person boards the van. Tokens or cash will be accepted for the van service. Bus passes will not be accepted.

The Moundsville bus service will operate Tuesdays and Thursdays , start at the Intermodal Transportation Center in Wheeling and make stops at WVU Medicine Reynolds Memorial Hospital in Glen Dale and the DMV office in Moundsville only. Weishar said those two stops were chosen because many people’s doctors have moved their offices to Reynolds and in order to gain employment, people need a driver’s license or ID card that can only be obtained through the DMV.

The time schedules for those Moundsville runs will be found at ovrta.org.

Weishar said that, if the trial runs were successful, it could open up the possibility of adding early and late bus routes for those needing to get to work, as well as the possibility of permanently expanding bus routes to Moundsville.

Tokens can be purchased through the Token Transit app that can be downloaded onto smartphones from the appropriate app store. Multi-month bus passes also can be purchased via the app or for up to one year at OVRTA/EORTA at 21 S. Huron St., Wheeling.

Wheeling City Manager Robert Herron said he was pleased with how quickly OVRTA/EORTA was able to come up with effective solutions to the public’s concerns. He agreed that November public hearing was essential to finding those answers as quickly as they were.

“That public hearing was very well done,” Herron said. “The people who came to that hearing were there because they were very interested and interested in making positive change. So not only did they talk about some of the areas they felt needed improvement, but also provided ideas.

“There was a theme in those ideas that you saw in these two changes,” he added. “The way the citizens addressed the boards also helped to provide clear direction we could act upon very quickly.”