82246p4 magazine_GuardianMagazine 6/12/18 8:21 PM Page 35
R EGIO N A L NE W S
REGION II
Keeping Wild, Wonderful West Virginia Safe By Reggie Bunner, Special Operations Manager, West Virginia Public Service Commission
Every state has a tourist industry that not only provides its residents and visitors with a lot of fun and exciting activities, but also presents unique challenges for local and state governments. The state of West Virginia is no different with its whitewater rafting industry. West Virginia currently has approximately 16 different rafting companies that serve the areas of the Cheat River in the northern part of the state, the Gauley and New rivers in the southern part of the state, and the Shenandoah and Potomac rivers in the state’s eastern panhandle. To service this industry, there are approximately 180 buses and more than 200 drivers. Each spring the West Virginia Public Service Commission’s Motor Carrier Enforcement Division gears up for the upcoming season by conducting inspections on the buses and drivers that transport the rafters to and from the various launch and recovery points. The Public Service Commission’s Motor Carrier Enforcement Division, with its 40 officers, is West Virginia’s only commercial motor vehicle inspection agency and accomplishes these rafting company inspections with approximately 16 bus inspectors.
In 2017, the enforcement division conducted 145 inspections of buses associated with the whitewater industry. Of these inspections, only six out-of-service violations were noted. According to Inspector A.W. Ryan, who conducts the majority of the inspections in the southern part of the state, “The rafting companies in the southern part of the state are generally outstanding. They are very cooperative with our inspectors and appear to have the highest regard for the safety of their customers.” Inspector Ryan also added that “We, as inspectors, put forth a very conscientious effort in these inspections due to the fact that the bulk of the bus fleets that we inspect are generally retired school buses that were mostly manufactured in the early to mid ‘90s.”
Statewide each year, West Virginia whitewater companies transport between 130,000-140,000 passengers. To learn more about the West Virginia Public Service Commission, visit www.psc.state.wv.us. n
All for-hire passenger carriers are required to be inspected annually by the West Virginia Public Service Commission. The rafting companies are very cooperative with our request to conduct terminal inspections of their drivers and buses. This, along with outreach training, has made a great contribution to the fact that the rafting industry has had no major incidents in the state with their fleet.
SECOND QUARTER 2018
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