{"id":248769,"date":"2026-04-27T21:45:11","date_gmt":"2026-04-27T21:45:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/248769\/"},"modified":"2026-04-27T21:45:11","modified_gmt":"2026-04-27T21:45:11","slug":"tampa-bay-ferry-to-return-with-year-round-service","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/248769\/","title":{"rendered":"Tampa Bay Ferry to return with year-round service"},"content":{"rendered":"

PINELLAS COUNTY, Fla. \u2014 People who live and visit the Tampa Bay Area will soon have a new way to get from Downtown Tampa to St. Petersburg.<\/p>\n

The Tampa Bay Ferry is coming back with some major changes.<\/p>\n

Hope Johnson lives in St. Pete and has always tried to go to Tampa when she can.<\/p>\n

“My motto is don’t let a bridge stop you, so you can’t let the bridge get in the way of whatever you want to do, and there’s great things on both sides of the bridge,” said Johnson.<\/p>\n

WATCH: Tampa Bay Ferry to return with year-round service<\/p>\n

Tampa Bay Ferry to return with year-round service<\/p>\n

Residents like Paige Meyers and Julie Freeman said they also enjoy going across the bridge for Lightning games, but traffic backups make travel difficult.<\/p>\n

“I think it’ll remove the pains of traffic and increase access to the outdoors, which makes commuting a lot more tolerable,” said Meyers.<\/p>\n

But now, after a year without it, the Tampa Bay Ferry is coming back.<\/p>\n

“So much better than a car. It’s the ultimate Florida lifestyle,” said Meyers and Freeman.<\/p>\n

The Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority announced on Monday that it plans to buy two boats to get the ferry service back up and running.<\/p>\n

One is the Bay Breeze from San Francisco, California, and the other is the San Juan Clipper from Seattle, Washington.<\/p>\n

Local leaders said the ferry used to be seasonal, but now it will operate year-round, seven days a week.<\/p>\n

It will take people from a temporary dock near the Vinoy Hotel to the Tampa Convention Center.<\/p>\n

“Being able to go between our downtown business corps it is going to be an amazing step forward in how we move people,” said Chair of the Tampa City Council, Alan Clendenin.<\/p>\n

It will cost riders $10 one way.<\/p>\n

People said the ferry could bring more people to the area and help boost tourism.<\/p>\n

“So, I think it’s going to really help boost tourism and help local people do something a little different, you know, maybe usually drive to a Lightning game, but you can jump on the ferry and make a night of it,” said Johnson.<\/p>\n

Johnson said she can\u2019t wait to be one of the first people aboard the new ferry.<\/p>\n

“The view on the ferry is going to be amazing, so you can’t go wrong with a beautiful relaxing day looking at the water, so the ferry is going to be great,” said Johnson.<\/p>\n

Share Your Story with Casey

Casey Albritton is dedicated to telling your stories throughout South Pinellas County. From St. Petersburg to Largo, she\u2019s there to share the triumphs and struggles of the community she calls home. So, let Casey know about the stories that matter to you.
.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

BTS opens North American tour in Tampa, drawing thousands of fans to sold out shows<\/p>\n

K-pop superstars return after pandemic hiatus and military service, launching three-night run at Raymond James Stadium.<\/p>\n

BTS opens North American tour in Tampa, drawing thousands of fans to sold out shows<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"PINELLAS COUNTY, Fla. \u2014 People who live and visit the Tampa Bay Area will soon have a new…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":248770,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[109061,596,107032,202,204,203,199,201,200,135,1526,5910,3670,208],"class_list":{"0":"post-248769","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-st-petersburg","8":"tag-ferry","9":"tag-pinellas-county","10":"tag-pinellas-news","11":"tag-st-pete","12":"tag-st-pete-headlines","13":"tag-st-pete-news","14":"tag-st-petersburg","15":"tag-st-petersburg-headlines","16":"tag-st-petersburg-news","17":"tag-tampa","18":"tag-tampa-bay","19":"tag-tampa-bay-28","20":"tag-tampa-bay-local-news","21":"tag-wfts"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/248769","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=248769"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/248769\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/248770"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=248769"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=248769"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=248769"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}