St. Petersburg<\/a> have officially approved plans to bring the Tampa Bay Ferry back to life \u2014 this time, as a year-round transportation option connecting the two cities.<\/p>\n\u201cThis is the future of transportation in Tampa Bay,\u201d said Tampa City Council member Chris Clendenin, moments after the motion passed.<\/p>\n
Under the new agreement, both cities will each contribute up to $350,000 a year to help fund the ferry\u2019s operation. St. Petersburg City Council member Copley Gerdes called the investment a practical step toward a more connected region.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is more than just a tourist attraction,\u201d said St. Pete Council member Gina Driscoll. \u201cThe way you have this set up now \u2014 it\u2019s going to be thought of as a practical way to get through the day.\u201d<\/p>\n
The deal also includes a $44,000 transfer from Tampa\u2019s general fund to cover startup costs, managed through the city\u2019s Transportation and Parking Division.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnother tool in the toolbox for getting traffic off the streets, cars off the road, and connecting communities,\u201d said Tampa Council member Guido Maniscalco.<\/p>\n
Once operational, the ferry will be run by the Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority (PSTA), which will handle all management and oversight. PSTA leaders say this version of the ferry is designed to last \u2014 offering consistent, year-round service rather than the short seasonal runs seen in past years.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe plan that PSTA has for this one is three steps in the right direction \u2014 frequent service, predictable service, year-round service,\u201d Clendenin added. \u201cWe\u2019re surrounded by water \u2014 it only makes sense.\u201d<\/p>\n
Research presented to the St. Petersburg City Council showed that nearly 90 percent of past ferry riders were locals, not tourists \u2014 a strong indication that residents are ready to use the service for daily commutes and recreation alike.<\/p>\n
Council member Corey Givens Jr. says the ferry will dock next to the St. Petersburg Museum of History, near The Pier, offering a much more visible and accessible location than before.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis access point is perfect \u2014 perfect for tourists, perfect for residents,\u201d Givens said. \u201cWhere it was before, in the port, it was tucked away and hard to find. This is a much easier access point.\u201d<\/p>\n
Concepts from the McLaren Engineering Group show two possible dock designs under consideration.<\/p>\n
PSTA is recommending Hubbard\u2019s Marina \u2014 also known as Tampa Bay Ferry and Taxi \u2014 as the new ferry operator. The PSTA Board will vote on December 3rd, and if approved, it could clear the way to officially set the project in motion.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cThis is the future of transportation in Tampa Bay,\u201d said Tampa’s City Councilmember Chris Clendenin, moments after the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":36794,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[202,204,203,199,201,200],"class_list":["post-36793","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-st-petersburg","tag-st-pete","tag-st-pete-headlines","tag-st-pete-news","tag-st-petersburg","tag-st-petersburg-headlines","tag-st-petersburg-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36793","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=36793"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36793\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/36794"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36793"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=36793"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36793"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}