{"id":279831,"date":"2026-05-21T19:16:45","date_gmt":"2026-05-21T19:16:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/279831\/"},"modified":"2026-05-21T19:16:45","modified_gmt":"2026-05-21T19:16:45","slug":"new-tampa-bay-ferry-service-moves-closer-to-setting-sail-with-vessel-purchase-approved-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/279831\/","title":{"rendered":"New Tampa Bay Ferry service moves closer to setting sail with vessel purchase approved"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Brief<\/p>\n

The Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority (PSTA) secured approval to purchase a ferry from San Francisco for $1.6 million.<\/p>\n

The operator, Hubbard\u2019s Marina, will run the service year-round between downtown St. Petersburg and downtown Tampa.<\/p>\n

Officials aim to launch the service by the end of the year.<\/p>\n

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – A new cross-bay transit service is closer to reality after local transit officials secured a deal to purchase one of two vessels.<\/p>\n

The Pinellas <\/a>Suncoast Transit Authority received unanimous approval from the San Francisco Bay Area Water Emergency Transportation Authority\u2019s board of directors to buy the Bay Breeze ferry on May 14 for $1.6 million.<\/p>\n

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“I think waterborne transportation in a place like Pinellas County, completely surrounded by water and especially all over Tampa Bay, there’s so many waterways and so many thoroughfares that can provide a unique form of transportation that’s a little bit more enjoyable than sitting in traffic in your vehicle,” Captain Dylan Hubbard said.<\/p>\n

Dig deeper<\/p>\n

PSTA is utilizing a portion of a nearly $5 million federal grant to purchase and refurbish a total of two vessels. The transit agency is also eyeing a second boat, the Seattle-based San Juan Clipper. They also have a backup boat option in Louisiana.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

While PSTA will own the boats, Hubbard\u2019s Marina, a staple in the area for nearly 100 years, will operate them.<\/p>\n

Details, like the service\u2019s schedule, are still being figured out, but it will operate year-round. PSTA and Hubbard\u2019s says they hope to dock the ferry near the Vinoy along Bayshore Drive in St. Pete and near the Convention Center in Tampa.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

“Once it’s here, it’s getting into a dry dock and getting it starting to be painted, cleaned up, ready, and retrofitted for service, and getting it dialed in to PSTA’s liking, and making sure that it’s safe, reliable, and ready to rock and roll,” said Hubbard.<\/p>\n

As excitement grows, the Hubbard’s have created a tracking page on the ferry’s updates, so interested parties can see where each ferry is in the process of converting for Tampa Bay transit.<\/p>\n

The backstory<\/p>\n

A previous seasonal ferry service in the region ended last year following a contract dispute with the previous vendor. The goal is to start tickets for the new ferry service at $10.<\/p>\n

What’s next<\/p>\n

Representatives from Hubbard\u2019s Marina plan to travel to the West Coast in the coming weeks to conduct sea trials on the vessels.<\/p>\n

The Source<\/p>\n

Information in this story is from the San Francisco Bay Area Water Emergency Transportation Authority\u2019s board of directors meeting, Hubbard\u2019s Marina and PSTA.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Brief The Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority (PSTA) secured approval to purchase a ferry from San Francisco for…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":279832,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[119385,6184,45670,39886,12327,12824,8371,726,135,1526,137,136],"class_list":["post-279831","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tampa","tag-captain-dylan-hubbard","tag-downtown-tampa","tag-ferry-service","tag-hubbards-marina","tag-pinellas-suncoast-transit-authority","tag-psta","tag-san-francisco","tag-service","tag-tampa","tag-tampa-bay","tag-tampa-headlines","tag-tampa-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/279831","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=279831"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/279831\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/279832"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=279831"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=279831"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=279831"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}