The Cross-Bay Ferry began its sixth season on Wednesday, providing a unique transportation option to residents and tourists in the Tampa Bay area.
The ferry provides transportation between downtown Tampa and downtown St. Petersburg. It's back after its most successful season since the service began with a record-breaking more than 62,000 riders from October 2021 to May 2022.
"Given so much of our convention business, our hotel business, our entertainment business, our leisure business, as well as the many people that have moved downtown now have an easier way to get off the roads and use the ferry to go back and forth between Tampa and St. Petersburg," said Hillsborough County Commissioner Kimberly Overman.
The ferry can carry a maximum of 149 guests at an average speed of 30 miles per hour. A one-way ride takes about 50 minutes, and a roundtrip adult ticket costs $24.
In February, the Federal Transit Administration awarded the Hillsborough Area Regional Transit Authority (HART) a $4.9 million grant to buy a new 350-passenger boat that it requested last October. Officials said that'll further establish the Cross-Bay Ferry as a mainstay transit option to reduce congestion, create local jobs, and increase connectivity across the Tampa Bay area.
Commissioner Overman said this community needs ways to help people get around.
“The good news is it adds to our economy by creating a buzz, and it adds to resources by the sales that are done in our community, the hotel spaces, those things that attract a business here, attract the businesses here, create jobs here. It helps folks get around.”
The ferry stops are outside the Tampa Convention Center and near the Vinoy Marina in St. Pete.
This year, the ferry is once again offering an extended season with an additional month of service and an expanded daily schedule which includes later evening runs.
Service will run until May 2023.
Click here for more information or to purchase tickets.
