FlixBus to expand to St. Petersburg
****Update: St. Petersburg City Council unanimously approved the city’s agreement with FlixBus during Thursday’s City Council meeting.
FlixBus, a low-cost intercity bus service headquartered in Germany, recently launched its Florida service in Miami, Jacksonville, Tampa, Fort Myers, Fort Lauderdale and Sarasota. Now, it’s looking to further expand service to St. Petersburg, Tallahassee and Gainesville.
With permission from St. Petersburg City Council, FlixBus will add a stop on the 800 block of St. Petersburg’s Central Avenue, to provide low-cost bus travel options to and from St. Petersburg, Orlando and Jacksonville up to four trips per day, with connections to Miami, Gainesville and Tallahassee.
FlixBus, which launched seven years ago in Europe, has been operating for just over a year and a half in the United States, with bus routes in 150 destinations across 24 states. The low-cost service, known for its lime green buses, markets itself primarily to millennial travelers. According to the company, 74 percent of its passengers are young professionals and university students, “and 63% of our riders have never, or rarely, traveled on an intercity bus. ”
Due to increased demand for public, budget-friendly and eco-friendly transportation options, over the seven years since its launch, FlixBus has expanded to employ more than 1,400, with 350,000 connections and 150 million customers served worldwide. According to the company, it is operating more than 60 percent of long-distance bus trips throughout Europe.
St. Petersburg City Council is set to consider the one-year agreement with four one-year renewal options between FlixBus and the City of St. Petersburg during Thursday’s meeting.
Kev Finn
May 7, 2020at10:02 am
I”ve used them in the EU. Fantastic prices & luxury clean buses with free internet. Its about time substandard american bus co.’s were facing competition from a world class bus Co.!
Marcia Scarponi
May 6, 2020at6:17 pm
BUS SERVICE MUCH NEEDED THROUGHOUT FLORIDA.
ST PETERSBURG- GAINESVILLE
– ORLANDO
– FT LAUDERDALE
– MIAMI
Danny White
May 6, 2020at12:23 pm
This is a great idea for Saint Petersburg, muc like Megabus(R) out of Tampa. The trouble is the current challenge of COVID-19 disease and public transportation CDC-compliant mitigation measures. That coupled with the routes these buses will travel, giving serious rise to the potential spread of the disease from hot spots to moderate to minimally impacted cities and towns. Perhaps seal the contract with the City but set its effective date to no earlier than January 2021.