# Charlotte Amalie West, U.S. Virgin Islands

Charlotte Amalie West is a census-designated place (CDP) in St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands on the west side of the island. It is the third largest town or census-designated place (CDP) in the U.S. Virgin Islands (after Charlotte Amalie and Anna's Retreat). Together with the historical town of Charlotte Amalie and the census-designated place (CDP) Charlotte Amalie East, Charlotte Amalie West make up the subdistrict and "the City" of Charlotte Amalie
Charlotte Amalie West is the transportation and industrial area of the island of St. Thomas. Within Charlotte Amalie West is one of the two airports in the US Virgin Islands, the Crown Bay Ports, Crown Bay marina, a marine drydock, the VITRAN (Virgin Island Public Transit) bus depot, ferry docks for surrounding islands, and Randolph Harley Power Plant operated by the Virgin Islands Water and Power Authority (WAPA) for the St. Thomas-St. John district.

## Transportation
### Airports

Cyril E. King Airport (IATA: STT ICAO: TIST) is the busiest airport in the Virgin Islands archipelago and second busiest in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands archipelago behind only the Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport in Carolina, Puerto Rico for total passengers served per year. It offers regular nonstop service to destinations to Chicago, Houston, San Juan and along the east coast of the United States.

### Cruise Ports

Charlotte Amalie West also holds one of the two cruise ports in St. Thomas, the other being the West Indian Company (WICO) dock in Havensight of Charlotte Amalie East. The Crown Bay cruise port has space for 2 large cruise ships as well as on port shopping center.

### Ferry Terminals

Within the Crown Bay Marina are docks for ferries going to both St. John and Water Island.

### Public Transit

The VITRAN (Virgin Island Public Transit) system is a comprehensive public transportation system serving the U.S. Virgin Islands. The system encompasses various modes of transportation, including buses, paratransit services and ferries. The buses and paratransit services are the only modes of transport that are available within the Charlotte Amalie West however.

#### Public Fixed Path Transit

Unlike other comprehensive public transportation systems in US cities, VITRAN does not service the local airport or the local university. Only one VITRAN bus route serves the CDP of Charlotte Amalie West as others have been discontinued. Below of the list of bus routes, current and past:
* VITRAN 101 - City/UVI [suspended],
* VITRAN 102 - City/Subbase/Airport [suspended],
* VITRAN 201 - Bordeaux.

#### Public Paratransit Service

The paratransit service provided by VITRAN is a specialized transportation system designed to serve individuals with disabilities who cannot access the regular fixed public transit services. This service adheres to the guidelines of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), ensuring accessible transportation for elderly, those with mobility issues and disabled residents and visitors. This VITRAN service include door-to-door or curb-to-curb transport and advanced reservation systems at half the price of the fixed path transist.

### Alternative Fixed Path Transit

"Safaris", as they are called locally, are open air taxis mounted onto the back of a pickup truck. Because VITRAN bus transit is not very efficient, some "safari" drivers operate on several VITRAN bus fixed paths. Some Safari drivers still run on the old VITRAN 101 route.

### Highways and Major Roads

In the USVI, highways and major routes beginning with 3-4 are located on St. Thomas. Many of these highways and routes pass through or border the town of Charlotte Amalie. Some of the major highways and roads include:
* Highway 30 (VI 30) passes through Charlotte Amalie West as Veteran's Drive and Moravian Highway.
* Route/Highway 33 (VI 33) connects to Highway 30 as Crown Mountain Road.
* Route 302 (VI 302) connects to Highway 30 as Airport Road providing access to the Cyril E King Airport Main terminal.
* Route 303 (VI 303) connects to Highway 30 as the Contant Thruway.
* Route 304 (VI 304) connects to Highway 30 and Route 302. It passes though the Crown Bay area the Athniel C. "Addie" Ottley Drive and Sara Hill Road.
* Route 305 (VI 305) connects to Route 304 at both ends and provides access to the Crown Bay Cruise Port as Crown Bay Center Road.
* Route/Highway 308 (VI 308) connects to Highway 30 as Harwood Highway.
* Route 332 (VI 332) is a spur route of Highway 33. The road provides a link from Route 33 to Route 40, connecting two major north–south roads out of Charlotte Amalie in the mountains. Route 332 is Scott Free Road and Lower Solberg Road in the mountains.

## Territorial Government

Although Charlotte Amalie is the anchor town of "the city" of Charlotte Amalie (subdistrict), Charlotte Amalie West is home to the highest division of the judicial branch of the territory. The Supreme Court of the Virgin Islands is located in the Crown Bay area in Charlotte Amalie West. The Supreme Court assumed jurisdiction over all appeals from the Superior Court of the Virgin Islands, a trial level court, on January 29, 2007.

## Education

St. Thomas-St. John School District operates public schools.
Elementary Schools:
* Ulla F. Muller Elementary School
Parochial and Private Schools:
* Moravian School
Universities and Colleges: The University of the Virgin Islands, Orville E. Kean Campus, was founded in 1962. The University of the Virgin Islands provides higher education leading to associate's, bachelor's, master's and PhD degrees, with campuses on St. Thomas and St. Croix.

## Sports

The University of the Virgin Islands (UVI) Buccaneers men's and Lady Buccaneers women's athletics teams since 2016 has participated in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) college athletics association for colleges and universities in North America. This membership marked a significant step in expanding UVI's athletic program, allowing its teams to compete at a national level against other colleges and universities in various sports. On of July 1, 2023, UVI athletics took another big step and became a member of the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference (GCAC), now the HBCU Athletic Conference (HBCUAC). The university currently competes in three sports, basketball, cross country, and track & field for both men and women.
The UVI men's and women's basketball teams play their home games at the Elridge Wilburn Blake Sports and Fitness Center on the UVI Orville E. Kean Campus. The facility is an indoor sporting arena with a capacity of 3,000 people (the largest on the island).
The arena also serves as the host venue for the United States Virgin Islands Paradise Jam, an in-season college basketball exempt multiple-team event (MTE) tournament.

## Climate

Climate data for Charlotte Amalie West :
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Mean daily maximum °F (°C) | 86 (30) | 86 (30) | 86 (30) | 88 (31) | 88 (31) | 90 (32) | 90 (32) | 91 (33) | 90 (32) | 90 (32) | 88 (31) | 86 (30) | 88 (31) |
| Mean daily minimum °F (°C) | 72 (22) | 72 (22) | 72 (22) | 74 (23) | 76 (24) | 77 (25) | 78 (26) | 78 (26) | 77 (25) | 76 (24) | 75 (24) | 73 (23) | 75 (24) |
| Average precipitation inches (mm) | 1.89 (48) | 1.51 (38) | 1.52 (39) | 2.39 (61) | 3.36 (85) | 2.35 (60) | 2.42 (61) | 3.50 (89) | 5.34 (136) | 5.57 (141) | 5.28 (134) | 2.74 (70) | 37.87 (962) |
| Source: ||||||||||||||