The Kanawha Valley Regional Transport Authority is breathing a sigh of relief.
On Sunday, the authority unveiled its newest attempt to improve the county's busing system, updating routes that had been untouched since the '70s.
"The transition went 95 to 97 percent smoother than I thought," said Doug Hartley, KRT's assistant general manager, after their Board of Members meeting, Thursday.
The board met to discuss the bus transitions and an expiring advertising contract with Gateway Outdoor Advertising, the company responsible for handling the advertisements on county buses.
Hartley's office is full of calendars, charts and spreadsheets that help him track the progress of the changes and try to plan for more ahead.
"The system went through the biggest change that it's ever went through since I've been here," said Dennis Dawson, KRT's general manager.
But they're not done yet.
"There've been drivers that have made goofy mistakes, but we knew that was going to happen," Dawson said. "And we've made goofy mistakes that we shouldn't have made."
The KRT has been receiving phone calls, emails and route feedback forms from passengers and employees to see how the transition is working.
Most of the information they have received they can fix, like rescheduling a bus next Monday so that BridgeValley Community and Technical College students can make it to class on time.
But they can't fix everything.
"We got an email last night from a lady that lives over on Piedmont Road, which the Campbells Creek bus previously served," Dawson said. "She doesn't have any bus service but I don't know what to do, there's no way to satisfy all of those."
Dunbar resident Thomas Bass, 18, who was waiting at the Laidley Street Transit Mall on Monday, said that the new schedule has been making his life difficult. He's one of the BridgeValley students who wasn't able to get to class on Monday and Tuesday, and the new schedule forces him to arrive to work at the Charleston Area Medical Center three hours early.
But not everyone has been upset with the new schedule.
Derian West, 37, who is living in South Park Village, is happy now that she doesn't have to change buses to get her 8-year-old daughter to school.
"Coming from South Park, it's made a world of a difference," West said.
The new routes are the second in a three-part process designed to simplify the busing system in Kanawha Valley.
The first step was transitioning to a flat-fare system in July. The new fares cost $1.50 for one trip and $2.50 for an all-day pass.
The third and final phase of KRT's plan to update its system, which will be unveiled this summer, is an attempt to add online connectivity for the buses.
The KRT plans on adding technology that will allow passengers to track their buses, and is getting its routes and bus times to Google Maps so that passengers can use the Internet to find their stop.
While the KRT continues work on updating the bus system, board members must decide whether or not to renew a contract with Gateway Outdoor Advertising.
The board is deciding between trying to renew the contract, if they're legally able, or to put the advertising contract up for a bid.
The board is wary about Gateway, a national agency based in Long Valley, New Jersey, because the agency still owes them money.
"Hopefully, they're going to come and make us whole so we can make an educated decision," Dawson said.
Reach Daniel Desrochers at dan.desrochers@wvgazettemail.com, 304-348-4886 or follow @drdesrochers on Twitter.