Tampa Bay's first bus rapid transit line, SunRunner, to launch later this year
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The SunRunner Bus Rapid Transit system between Downtown and St. Pete Beach will begin operation late this summer as the first BRT project in Tampa Bay. BRT systems are designed to combine the capacity and speed of a metro with the lower cost and flexibility of a bus system. They have been implemented recently in 26 U.S. cities.
Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority developed and will operate the $44-million, 10.3-mile route. PSTA is also conducting a Transit Oriented Development (TOD) study, called SunRunner Rising, with consultants Kimley-Horn.
Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority (PSTA) Public Relations Coordinator Stephanie Rank indicates that PSTA expects to present recommendations to the City of St. Petersburg by April in conjunction with the StPete2050 plan which was published last year. St. Pete Mayor Ken Welch was a former PSTA Chairman is knowledgeable about transit system issues.
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A new café named for one of Pinellas County’s noisiest residents is coming soon to Gulfport.
Nanday Café will open at 3107 Beach Boulevard South, the former home of GulfPerk Coffee Bar. The locally owned café will serve coffee, breakfast, and lunch, according to its website.
GulfPerk remained closed after sustaining extensive damage during Hurricane Helene in late 2024 and announced in July that it would not reopen after three years in business.
The café’s name comes from the loud-mouthed nanday parakeets frequently seen, and heard, around Pinellas County. The green birds have become something of an unofficial mascot of the area.
Native to South America, nanday parakeets first appeared outside captivity in St. Petersburg in 1969.