Tampa-St. Pete ferry comeback set for approval
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The Cross Bay Ferry heads to St. Pete from Tampa. Photo: Education Images/Universal Images Group via Getty Images
Pinellas County transit officials are expected on Wednesday to approve a year-round ferry service connecting Tampa and St. Petersburg.
Why it matters: It's the final vote before local officials can start building out the service, called the Tampa Bay Ferry.
State of play: That includes acquiring the boat — or, ideally, boats — and building a temporary dock in the North Yacht Basin between the St. Pete Pier and the Vinoy Resort, local officials said during a news conference Tuesday.
- The goal is to have the service up and running by next spring or summer, said Tara Hubbard of Hubbard's Marina, the nearly 100-year-old Madeira Beach business set to operate the service with Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority (PSTA) oversight.
- "We are looking for the right boat, the right vessel," Hubbard said, "so being able to make that decision will definitely adjust the timeline."
Zoom in: Hubbard's is eyeing a used 250-passenger vessel out of San Francisco called the "Bay Breeze," according to PSTA documents.
- The 1994 boat is up for sale for $1.5 million and is set to get a new engine early next year, documents show. Refurbishment and sea testing the boat is expected to cost another $1 million.
- The transit authority has a $4.8 million federal grant set aside to buy the vessel or vessels for the service.
Driving the news: Along with expected approval of a five-year contract with Hubbard's and agreements with St. Pete and Tampa to help fund the service, PSTA board members are set to vote on purchasing the "Bay Breeze."
- The buy would be contingent on successful surveys, testing and trials as well as federal approval.
Between the lines: Also key to the project is securing the St. Pete-side dock location in the North Yacht Basin.
- That's where the now-shuttered Cross Bay Ferry docked before permitting issues forced it to move about a mile south to Port St. Pete, away from the shops and restaurants of Beach Drive and Central Avenue. Ridership plummeted afterward.
- If all goes to plan, city officials will build a temporary dock for ferry service until a permanent dock, set to be located in the same waterway behind the St. Petersburg Museum of History, is complete.
On the Tampa side, plans call for the ferry to dock at a seawall behind the Convention Center, as did the previous service.