Hitchhiking and Murder and their Impact on Transportation

The clip above is from a “Good Is In The Details” podcast episode called “The WHY of True Crime.” We interviewed Sarah J. McLaughlin, host and producer of the compelling podcast “Appalachian Mysteria,” and, specifically, Season One on The West Virginia Co-ed Murders.  

Besides getting into the details of the story behind the West Virginia University Co-eds who were brutally murder in 1970 and the true crime genre in general, we also discussed the only Personal Rapid Transit (PRT) system currently in place in the United States, which links West Virginia University to Morgantown, the Morgantown PRT.

PRTs are automated pods on fixed tracks and are an uncommon mode of mass transit, but are incredibly interesting. Here’s a YouTube video example of the Morgantown PRT. Most people probably wonder why the first (and currently only) PRT system, which was built in the 1970s, is in West Virginia of all places (i.e., not a major metro area like Los Angeles, New York, etc.).

And the answer, in part, could be that the PRT was a byproduct of the West Virginia Co-ed murders. The above clip from the “Good Is In The Details” episode is when I explain my aha moment of how transportation (or the lack thereof) is directly linked to murder through hitchhiking.

We take for granted these days that we can call for a ride-sharing company with the touch of a button. Or we can (usually) take a bus of some kind, or, if you are lucky enough, take a train. But if you live in rural places or anywhere that is underserved transit-wise, you are stuck driving a car…or hitching a ride.

Hitchhiking may not be as common as it once was back in the last century. And that is probably a good thing, but safe transit and transportation options are still too limited for people without means. Far too many people still without alternatives, safe ones or otherwise.

And for the paper that Sarah references in the clip where two professors try to link the murders to the development of the Morgantown PRT System, click here. It’s a fantastic story for transportation geeks that love to get deeper in to the “why” of something unusual like PRT systems.