The Kanawha Valley Regional Transportation Authority, commonly known as "KRT" is the city

bus A bus (contracted from omnibus, with variants multibus, motorbus, autobus, etc.) is a road vehicle that carries significantly more passengers than an average car or van. It is most commonly used in public transport, but is also in use for cha ...

system for the

Charleston, West Virginia Charleston is the capital and List of cities in West Virginia, most populous city of West Virginia. Located at the confluence of the Elk River (West Virginia), Elk and Kanawha River, Kanawha rivers, the city had a population of 48,864 at the 20 ...

, United States metropolitan area. The tax supported system was founded in 1971 after the

Greyhound The English Greyhound, or simply the Greyhound, is a breed of dog, a sighthound which has been bred for coursing, greyhound racing and hunting. Since the rise in large-scale adoption of retired racing Greyhounds, the breed has seen a resurge ...

Corporation and the privately owned Charleston Transit Company ceased intra-city bus service following a strike. The system ranges throughout the Charleston metro area, from

Montgomery, West Virginia Montgomery is a city in West Virginia, along the Kanawha River. Most of the city is in Fayette County, with the remainder in Kanawha County. The population was 1,280 at the 2020 census. From 1876 to 1890, the town was called Coal Valley Post Of ...

in the south east, about 45 miles west to

Nitro, West Virginia Nitro is a city in Kanawha and Putnam counties in the State of West Virginia, named after a World War I era nitrocellulose plant built by the government. The population was 6,518 according to the 2021 Population estimates. History Nitro was in ...

. All buses centralize on the former Laidley Street in downtown Charleston, which is now known as the Transit Mall and is restricted to buses only. The KRT also was involved in a

Joint Venture A joint venture (JV) is a business entity created by two or more parties, generally characterized by shared ownership, shared returns and risks, and shared governance. Companies typically pursue joint ventures for one of four reasons: to acces ...

with the

Tri-State Transit Authority The Tri-State Transit Authority (TTA), which markets itself as "THE Transit Authority, is the city bus system in Huntington, West Virginia, and Ironton, Ohio, as well as its suburbs. Its buses range, on the West Virginia side from 21st Street in ...

known as

Intelligent Transit Intelligent Transit (iT) was a joint venture bus service of the Tri-State Transit Authority and the Kanawha Valley Regional Transportation Authority system, which operated a twice per day bus link between downtown Huntington, West Virginia and do ...

which provides a link between Charleston and

Huntington, West Virginia Huntington is a city in Cabell and Wayne counties in the U.S. state of West Virginia. It is the county seat of Cabell County, and the largest city in the Huntington–Ashland metropolitan area, sometimes referred to as the Tri-State Area. A h ...

, but this ended in 2015 due to low ridership.

Routes

All routes except No. 9 depart from Downtown Charleston. Route 9 connects to Route 2 at Cabin Creek Junction and to Route 22 at Quincy Walmart and Montgomery.

Electric buses

Public transportation officials hope that a small fleet of new

hybrid electric-diesel bus A hybrid electric bus is a bus that combines a conventional internal combustion engine propulsion system with an electric propulsion system. These type of buses normally use a Diesel-electric powertrain and are also known as hybrid Diesel-elec ...

es. The seven new vehicles were purchased with funding provided by the federal

Diesel Emissions Reduction Act The Diesel Emissions Reduction ActPub.L. 111-364, or DERA (as it will be referred to for the remainder of this article), is a part of the Energy Policy Act of 2005Pub.L. 109-58. The law appropriated funds to federal and state loan programs to either ...

, as well as $1.73 million in stimulus funds awarded to the state

Department of Environmental Protection This article lists subnational environmental agencies in the United States, by state. Agencies with a variety of titles and responsibilities are included, e.g. Department of Environment, Department of Environmental Conservation, Department of E ...

and the state Department of Transportation's

Division of Public Transit Division or divider may refer to: Mathematics *Division (mathematics), the inverse of multiplication * Division algorithm, a method for computing the result of mathematical division Military *Division (military), a formation typically consisting ...

References

External links

{{Portal, Buses
KRT history
Charleston, West Virginia metropolitan area Bus transportation in West Virginia Hybrid electric buses Transit authorities with electric buses Transportation in Kanawha County, West Virginia Transit agencies in West Virginia 1971 establishments in West Virginia