Mid-Ohio Valley Transit Authority looks at route reductions to address driver shortage
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PARKERSBURG -- The Mid-Ohio Valley Transit Authority is looking at temporarily reducing service on two routes due to a shortage of drivers.
Buses travel the Jefferson and Pike Street routes on the hour and half hour, but if the reduction is approved, the half-hour runs would stop, said Michael Kesterson, MOVTA general manager.
"I want to stress that it is just temporary until we get some operators hired," he said. "We're short around five drivers now."
Kesterson said if three more drivers could be hired and trained, the routes could resume.
"I don't want to cut out any routes," he said. "(Riders) would just have to catch the bus a half hour earlier."
The authority will hold two public forums on the proposed reduction on Monday. The first is from 10-11 a.m. at the MOVTA conference room at 520 Juliana St., Parkersburg. The second is from 2-3 p.m. at the Vienna Public Library.
The authority resumed nighttime routes last fall after canceling them for a year due to a driver shortage.