{"id":248543,"date":"2026-04-27T18:13:10","date_gmt":"2026-04-27T18:13:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/248543\/"},"modified":"2026-04-27T18:13:10","modified_gmt":"2026-04-27T18:13:10","slug":"tampa-bay-ferry-leaders-reveal-lower-fees-new-boats-ahead-of-launch","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/248543\/","title":{"rendered":"Tampa Bay Ferry: Leaders reveal lower fees, new boats ahead of launch"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The new ferry replaces the previous Cross Bay Ferry, which ended nearly one year ago.<\/p>\n<p>TAMPA, Fla. \u2014 Tampa and St. Pete leaders are making &#8220;significant updates&#8221; to the new Tampa Bay Ferry service, with the announcement of its own exclusive vessels for use every day, all year round.<\/p>\n<p>Months after the new ferry service and the purchase of a new vessel were granted <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wtsp.com\/article\/news\/local\/pinellascounty\/tampa-bay-ferry-service-back-returns-st-pete\/67-71af2f71-a77f-43f2-ac8d-a0c2f696819c\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">final approval<\/a>, officials with the Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority (PSTA) and the city of Tampa announced the purchase of a vessel from San Francisco-based Bay Breeze Ferry. The boat carries up to 250 passengers.<\/p>\n<p>This is a change-up from previous years, where out-of-town vessels were used seasonally for the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wtsp.com\/article\/travel\/cross-bay-ferry-ending-closing\/67-a8419e4d-0349-42cd-9923-1187c68bc6f7\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">Cross Bay Ferry Service<\/a>, which took its final ride almost one year ago.<\/p>\n<p>This, however, is only a start, as the PSTA board will consider approving a second vessel for the service using a $4.8 million federal grant.<\/p>\n<p>The second boat may be from the Seattle-based San Juan Clipper or from Candy Stripe, based out of Morgan City, Louisiana. Both can carry up to 149 passengers.<\/p>\n<p>Additionally, the ferry will be available for operation seven days a week, all year round, for the first time in its service&#8217;s history.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;That will be a much more reliable high-quality service,&#8221; PSTA CEO Brad Miller said.<\/p>\n<p>The ferry will launch from the Tampa Convention Center and travel to a temporary dock at the basin by the Vinoy Hotel in St. Pete.<\/p>\n<p>Fares will cost riders $10, with seniors and those with disabilities eligible for a 50% discount.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis ferry service is shaping up to be a win-win for everyone, on both sides of the Bay,\u201d Tampa City Council Member Lynn Hurtak said. \u201cWe\u2019ll be taking cars off the road, opening up new transportation options for locals and tourists, and activating two great cities in really exciting ways.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The new ferry replaces the previous Cross Bay Ferry, which ended nearly one year ago. TAMPA, Fla. \u2014&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":248544,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[135,137,136],"class_list":["post-248543","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tampa","tag-tampa","tag-tampa-headlines","tag-tampa-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/248543","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=248543"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/248543\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/248544"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=248543"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=248543"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=248543"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}