Fairmont Marion County Transit Authority
The Fairmont Marion County Transit Authority provides public transportation to the citizens of Fairmont and Marion County, West Virginia, United States.
History
On December 31, 1971, the City Lines buses ended service in Marion County and Fairmont, West Virginia. This left the citizens of the area without any type of mass transit. The inauguration of a new system lasted over a year and a half.In January 1973, the governing bodies of Marion County and Fairmont formed the Fairmont Marion County Transit Authority as a separate government entity, funded equally at $60,000 by each of the bodies. The planning, purchasing, scheduling and recruitment process lasted five months. On June 7, 1973, the seventeen-month period of no transit ended with the first bus operated by FMCTA hitting the road.
May 23, 1973 Michael Pasquale was named Manager / Dispatcher and since that time Woody Conrad served 11 years, H. B. Herb Pudder served 5 years, Joe Rager 12 years and George Levitsky, CCTM has served since January, 2003 as Managers of the Transit Authority. In 2014 US Senator Joe Manchin, Delegates Mike Caputo, Tim Manchin and Linda Longstreth, and Governor Tomblin offered congratulatory letters and a citation from the House of Delegates of the West Virginia Legislature.
Originally service operated on seven routes in and around Fairmont plue five additional routes serving rural communities. The original routes were West End, East Side, Rivesville, Barrackville, Watson/Mall, Monongah.
Soon after, FMCTA began to expand the service area. The original fleet of buses consisted of Mercedes-Benz buses and later in the 1980s of Flexettes which were light duty buses built by Flexible. Grumman-Olsens were added for rural route service. Large Bluebirds which resembled school buses were bought to use on charters and interstate trips until insurance became cost prohibitive. They were by far the largest buses operated by FMCTA with 41 seats. The fleet for many years consisted of Goshen Coach buses, Ford mid-sized buses, vans and a trolley. The fleet now stands around 30 vehicles that have various seating capacities ranging from four to thirty two seats and are fully equipped to meet the Americans with Disabilities specifications and 4 non ADA service vehicles.
Riders
Clientele of the FMCTA are primarily senior citizens, the transportationally disadvantaged, and persons of lower income. Other riders include Fairmont State University students, commuters looking for an economically advantageous alternative to driving, and customers aware of the environmental benefits that transit provides.Funding
When FMCTA began, it was well received by the community and turned a profit at the end of its first Fiscal Year, 1975. The Board of Directors were determined that the Authority could operate at half the funding level and thus cut the funding by fifty percent. In 1978, the City of Fairmont began to cut funding and managed to exclude transit funding entirely. Marion County continued funding until it too discontinued funding for transit in 1988. Currently, the Authority's greatest source of income is provided by the countywide levy providing 75% of the annual budget. The remaining amount comes from federal highway taxes and farebox revenue.Facility
When the FMCTA began service in 1973, service was provided out of a bus garage on Maryland Avenue in Fairmont. In 1980, the Authority was given a federal grant to build a new facility which included a garage, maintenance and office space as well as bus parking and fueling stations. In 1996, additional equipment parking was added in the lot adjacent to the new facility on Quincy Street. Another floor was added to garage in 2007 as well as additional parking. In May 2015 the transfer station was moved from on the street by the courthouse to a renovated 4 story stucco building located @ 401 Monroe Street with a cover area for waiting and Monday through Friday an indoor waiting area for our passengers.Fares
Fares range from $.50 in the core of the city to $2.00 on trips to Clarksburg or Morgantown. Fares increase at $.25 increments as the bus gets further from downtown. Transfers are free and only valid at the Transfer station. In the late 80s, for a short time, the base fare increased to $.75. This placed a hardship on the locals and the base fare returned to $.50 after the passage of the first excess levy in 1988. In July 2016 the board approved along with the County Commission that veterans, upon registering for a pass, could ride for free any where our fixed routes travel.Destination signs
The first Mercedes buses lacked destination signs to tell the passengers where the bus was going. Makeshift signs were made on pieces of cardboard scrawled on by a black marker. This issue was solved as more buses were purchased. The first bunch of Goshens purchased only had the overhead scroll sign and lacked a sign on the side of the buses. The next batch of buses purchased in the 1990s solved this issue, however it was tough convincing the bus drivers to use the side destination sign and it often remained on white blank or it was removed completely. New scrolls were purchased for the older buses and came equipped in the newer buses with exposures reading Out of Service and Garage. These were added to end confusion of passengers when buses return to the Courthouse at the end of a trip to discharge passengers only. Waiting passengers have no way of knowing the bus is only dropping off passengers and they often approach the bus only to be told the driver is going to the garage. Unfortunately, these helpful exposures are never displayed. The first bus with an electronic destination sign was a Champion brand bus added in 2006 which will hopefully put an end to the white blank days which at times appeared on the front of buses as well when there was not real signage available. This was the case for new or experimental routes such as those to Clarksburg Malls, Montana and Bunner's Ridge.Routes
Originally bus service operated over seven routes serving Fairmont plus five routes which operated weekly to surrounding rural communities. Daily routes operated were West End, East Side, Rivesville, Barrackville, Watson/Mall, Monongah and Jackson Addition. Rural routes included Kingmont and Mannington which both operated on Tuesdays, Carolina, Fairview and Colfax operating on Wednesdays. There was also a route that went to Fairview via Barrackville and Monumental as well as the current Fairview route via Rivesville.The Fairmont-Marion County Transit Authority currently serves most of the county as well as the I-79 corridor. The system covers 16 routes with various trip patterns. Service operates Monday through Friday between 7 am and 6 pm with five routes operating on Saturday between 8 am and 5 pm. Comparable ADA Paratransit service is also provided to complement the fixed routes. The buses use a pulse system that has all routes converging at a single transfer point in downtown Fairmont on Jefferson Street next to the Marion County Courthouse.
FMCTA provides service to the major towns in Marion County, including Fairmont, Mannington, Fairview, Rivesville, Barrackville, Pleasant Valley and White Hall. Service is also provided to Clarksburg to the malls and the Veterans' Hospital as well as service to Morgantown to Ruby Memorial Hospital.
Core routes include the Edgemont Loop, Watson/Mall and Mount Harmony. Other routes serve Barrackville, Carolina, Unity Terrace, Jackson Addition, Mannington, Pleasant Valley, Rivesville and Fairview. All routes operate weekdays while only core service operates Saturdays. Saturday service was started in the mid-1980s. Sunday service has never been provided. Weekday evening service existed for a few years in the early 90s but after proving to be unsuccessful, it was discontinued. Two evening trips were again added in 2007 to serve the Mall and Fairmont State University but they have since been discontinued.
Current routes
;Barrackville;Campus Loop
;Carolina/Worthington
;Clarksburg Malls
;Edgemont Loop
;Fairview
;FSU/Mall
;Gateway/Mall
;Jackson Addition
;Mannington/Metz
;Morgantown Mall
;Mount Harmony/Meadowdale/East Side/Smithtown
;Pleasant Valley/Mall
;Rivesville/Greentown/County Line
;Ruby Memorial/Morgantown
;VA Hospital
;Watson/Mall