Opinion

Numbers just didn’t add up for intercity bus service

An editorial from The Herald-Dispatch

HUNTINGTON, W.Va. — Like virtually all public transit services, the commuter bus connecting Charleston and Huntington on weekdays doesn’t pay its own way because revenues from fares simply aren’t enough to cover the costs.

Unfortunately for those who have utilized the service over the past six years, the main subsidy for what is called the Intelligent Transit service is running out at the end of this month. At this point, prospects for continuing the “iT” are looking dim.

The Huntington-Charleston route has operated since January 2009, providing a morning route and an evening route to and from each city with stops in Cabell, Putnam and Kanawha counties. Since 2011, it has provided more than 13,000 rides a year. People who use the service say they appreciate not having to drive, and they are able to use laptops and other electronic devices while they make the commute.

But ever since the first three-year federal grant ran out in 2012, the service’s finances have been shaky…

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