The Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority rolled out two used passenger ferries on Tuesday and said water service between downtown St. Petersburg and downtown Tampa is coming back. This time the boats stay here.
The vessels are the Bay Breeze, which can carry about 250 people, and the Bay Clipper, which can carry about 150. Both are in the yard at Tarpon Marine Services. PSTA says the goal is year-round, seven-day service. Officials have not set a start date. The next step is a U.S. Coast Guard inspection.
Adult fares are planned at $10 one way. Seniors pay $5. Children under 8 ride free.
That is a simpler pitch than the last version of this idea. For seven years the region ran a seasonal Cross Bay Ferry on a boat borrowed from Boston. It worked in the winter and then went home. PSTA CEO Brad Miller called that run successful and limited. When the lease ended, so did the service.
This time the agency bought the boats. Refurbishment is paid with a Federal Transit Administration grant. Crews are reupholstering seats, replacing carpet with epoxy flooring, working the exterior decks, and overhauling the Clipper’s water jets. Local operator Hubbard’s Marina, a family business that has worked these waters for decades, is slated to run the route. Planned docks are near the Vinoy basin in St. Pete and the Convention Center in Tampa.
PSTA says the point is to give drivers another way across the bay, ease pressure on the bridges, and move people to events without sitting in traffic. That is a practical claim. The Howard Frankland and Gandy are not going away. A pair of midsize ferries will not empty them. If they actually run every day, they can give some commuters and visitors a choice that doesn’t depend on a northern operator’s calendar.
Public transit announcements often arrive wrapped in larger promises about climate, equity, and transformation. This one is smaller and clearer. Two used boats. Local yard work. A local operator. A $10 ticket. No launch date until the Coast Guard signs off. That is closer to how most people judge a service: Does it show up, and can I afford it?
Federal money is still federal money. Taxpayers elsewhere are helping buy and fix boats that will serve Tampa Bay. The test is whether the service stays on the water after the ribbon-cutting photos fade. Seasonal rentals never had to pass that test. Owned boats do.
Miller said the ferries should be something people can rely on for the long haul. Tarpon Springs Commissioner Lori Rainaldi Weaver, who sits on the PSTA board, talked about a child’s first time on a boat. Both remarks are fine. Riders will care more about whether the schedule holds when one vessel is in the shop and whether the fare stays at $10 after the grants are spent.
Work continues in Tarpon Springs. Officials say they want the boats running as soon as they are safe. Until then, the bridges remain the default, and the bay remains the long way around.
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