St. Pete explores permanent ferry dock at St. Pete Pier for service to downtown Tampa
/The passenger ferry linking downtown St. Pete and downtown Tampa may soon have a new home on the St. Pete Pier.
As the Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority (PSTA) prepares to relaunch the Tampa Bay Ferry, formerly known as the Cross Bay Ferry, the city is evaluating plans to construct a permanent dock near the St. Petersburg Museum of History, according to documents obtained by St. Pete Rising.
When the ferry service began in 2016, it carried passengers on a roughly 50-minute ride from North Straub Park in downtown St. Pete to the Tampa Convention Center in downtown Tampa.
In 2023, when the permit for the St. Pete dock expired, the St. Pete terminus was relocated to the Port of St. Petersburg, south of Albert Whitted Airport.
While the Port location kept the service operational, it’s been criticized by riders and city officials for being out of sight and inconvenient compared to the original downtown stop.
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