West Virginia transit leaders ask committee to raise state match to draw down $53 million in federal funds

Paula Smith, president of the West Virginia Public Transit Association and executive director of Bridal River Transit, and Tim Thomas, general manager of Mountain Transit Authority, told the Legislature—s Workforce Committee that boosting the state—s transit match would allow West Virginia systems to draw down millions in federal transit dollars and expand routes and hours in rural counties.

Smith said the state currently provides about $2.2 million in matching funds and that, "we currently are leaving, like, dollars 53,000,000 of federal dollars on the table because we don't have the match money." She told the committee that if the state—s contribution were raised to a total of $5,000,000, systems could access substantially more Federal Transit Administration funding for both operating and capital needs.

Why it matters: Transit leaders said additional state matching money would expand service frequency and hours in counties that now have only limited runs, allowing more residents to reach jobs, training, medical appointments and other basic services. Committee members pressed presenters for documentation and operational details before considering any change to the state budget.

Smith told the committee that West Virginia Public Transit serves about 32 counties, transported more than 4,000,000 passengers last year and logged about "12,000,000 miles a year." She said last year the network recorded roughly 570,000 senior trips and 319,000 disability trips. "The type of transportation public transit provides in West Virginia is we provide trips to the workforce," Smith said, listing workforce training, GED access, college, preventive medical appointments and life-sustaining medical trips such as dialysis and chemotherapy.

Tim Thomas described Mountain Transit Authority—s recent expansions in several mostly rural counties. "About 4 years ago, the Pocahontas County Commission approached us to come back into Pocahontas County— after several years of being absent— because they had 2 of their biggest— employers— getting basically ready to close their doors because of lack of transportation for individuals to get to work," Thomas said. He said Mountain Transit worked with the employers and local partners to develop work routes; that route became one of the authority—s top two by ridership.

Thomas said workforce trips account for roughly half of Mountain Transit—s routes across its service area and described a Summersville-area extension that expanded service from 5 p.m. to about 8 p.m. after the system had previously stopped in the early evening. He also said MTA has hired veterans to drive buses and that some counties are piloting new service agreements.

Committee members asked for evidence linking a larger state match to the ability to draw down federal funds and for documentation from the Division of Public Transit. "What—s the parameters on that?" asked the senator from Greenbrier, requesting specifics about the matching requirement. Presenters said they would obtain supporting documentation from the Division of Public Transit and asked that it be distributed to committee members.

Presenters also described how federal match rates differ by program: they told senators operating grants are typically matched 50/50 and capital grants generally 80/20. They noted that counties under state law must provide a small local contribution (committee testimony identified the statutory local share as $5,500), but presenters said many counties provide more than that voluntarily and that local contributions help leverage federal dollars.

The presentation compared West Virginia—s current state transit allocation to funding in neighboring states, which presenters said invest more heavily per year; those comparisons were offered to illustrate the scale of additional funds available elsewhere and to justify a larger state match.

Votes at a glance

- Approval of minutes from the previous meeting: motion moved by the vice chairman; voice vote; motion adopted. - Motion to adjourn: motion moved by the vice chairman; voice vote; motion adopted.

Documentation and next steps: Committee members requested written documentation from the Division of Public Transit showing the match mechanics and the specific federal funds currently unavailable for drawdown. Presenters said they would provide the Division—s planning and funding information to the committee for review.

The meeting then proceeded to approve minutes and adjourn by voice votes.