PSTA spares beach bus route after riders push back

The Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority backed away Wednesday from eliminating a bus route used largely by St. Pete Beach hotel workers, giving the service through the end of the year while staff works with beach employers and takes another look at ridership.

The PSTA board voted 13-0 to continue Route 90 while eliminating the Safety Harbor Snapper, an on-demand service that has struggled to attract riders. Staff had recommended cutting both.

Route 90 connects south St. Petersburg with St. Pete Beach and serves workers at hotels including the Don CeSar and TradeWinds. PSTA reports about 730 riders in an average month. For comparison, Route 16 averages 3,193 monthly riders and Route 58 averages 2,918.

About two-thirds of Route 90 riders use PSTA’s Universal Pass Program, or U-Pass. Participating employers and organizations pay PSTA an annual rate that allows eligible employees, students or other participants to ride without paying a fare each time they board. TradeWinds has participated in the program since its earlier Sea Pass iteration.

PSTA staff said the route has not produced the ridership gains expected after changes made through the agency’s Connected Community Bus Network. Staff proposed eliminating it and directing riders to other connections, including the SunRunner. Chief Financial Officer Debbie Leous said cutting Route 90 would save the agency about $314,000 annually.

Pinellas County Commissioner Kathleen Peters questioned whether the current numbers fairly reflect Route 90’s potential. Several St. Pete Beach hotels were closed or operating below normal levels after hurricanes Helene and Milton, she said, while properties have only recently re-opened.

“I think this ridership number is skewed,” Peters said.

Peters also questioned whether PSTA had given the recently re-opened hotels enough time to rebuild their workforces and promote transit to employees. Staff acknowledged it had not yet reached out to some of the new hotel operators.

The discussion also turned to St. Pete Beach’s financial relationship with PSTA. Some board members noted that the city does not participate in the transit system in the same way as PSTA’s member cities, while Peters focused on the workers who would lose the direct connection.

“I don’t think you punish the employees that work in that city because the city chose a different route,” Peters said.

TradeWinds employees were among those represented at Wednesday’s hearing. Alexis Hofstetter, a St. Petersburg resident and co-chair of the resort’s Eco Team, said more than 600 people work at the property and described employees in their yellow floral shirts waiting for buses early in the morning and after long shifts.

“We respectfully urge the board not to eliminate Route 90,” Hofstetter said.

Hofstetter said the route helps TradeWinds recruit and retain workers who live away from the beach, particularly employees for whom owning and maintaining a car would take a large bite out of their income.

“For workers earning modest wages, reliable transit can also mean the difference between absorbing the cost of a car and using that income for foundational needs, such as housing, food, child care and health care,” Hofstetter said.

The board ultimately gave Route 90 until no later than the end of the calendar year. Staff had asked for more time, preferably through the 2027 spring break season, saying PSTA only makes major service changes at certain points during the year and that building relationships with reopened hotels would take time.

Safety Harbor’s Snapper service did not get the same extension. PSTA reports about 87 riders in an average month, less than half the 224 monthly riders using the similar Clearwater Snapper. Eliminating the Safety Harbor service is expected to save about $135,000 annually.

Snapper allows riders to book trips within a designated service area rather than wait at a traditional fixed-route bus stop. PSTA staff said Safety Harbor has been difficult to serve because of its lower density, and previous fixed-route, connector and on-demand services there have also drawn relatively few riders.

PSTA plans to establish a Direct Connect location at Enterprise Road and McMullen Booth Road, allowing riders to connect to the fixed-route network through Route 78.

Some Safety Harbor riders said that alternative still leaves a difficult gap. Ruby Pena, a college student who lives near Main Street, wrote that she previously faced a 30- to 35-minute walk to reach other transit and has used Snapper more than 35 times during the past year for school, work, medical appointments and grocery trips.

A separate written comment came from a 16-year-old student who said the Snapper is how she gets to work while her parents and sister are working.

“Without this bus route, my life would change for the worse,” she wrote. “I can’t get a car if I can’t work.”

The board separately voted 8-5 to keep Route 16, Route 58, the Clearwater Snapper and the Grouper airport service.

Route 16 runs between Gateway Mall and downtown St. Petersburg and serves Northeast High School, Meadowlawn Middle School, Mirror Lake Library and the Sunshine Senior Center. Route 58 serves destinations including St. Petersburg College’s Seminole campus, Seminole City Center, Osceola High School, Bardmoor Hospital and major employers including Jabil. PSTA said neither route has a direct alternative.

The Clearwater Snapper will remain, with PSTA planning to combine some of its operations with Access paratransit service to reduce the cost per trip. The Grouper, which provides trips between St. Pete-Clearwater International Airport and Clearwater Beach, will also continue, although PSTA will rely on taxis rather than a dedicated vehicle on some lower-demand weekdays outside the spring break season.

The board also voted 13-0 to approve several fare and fee changes.

Passengers who tap a credit or debit card onboard will pay $2.36 for a base fare instead of $2.25. Cash and Flamingo card fares remain $2.25. PSTA said about 11% of fares are now paid by credit or debit card, and processing those payments costs the agency about $25,000 per month.

The Transportation Disadvantaged monthly pass will increase from $11 to $13, its first increase since 2016, if the change also receives approval from Forward Pinellas’ Local Coordinating Board. The program provides deeply discounted monthly passes to qualifying low-income riders.

Grouper’s single-rider fare will increase from $8 to $10. PSTA also approved a fuel surcharge for its ferry services: $1 on the Clearwater Ferry and $2 on the planned Tampa Bay ferry whenever diesel exceeds $4 per gallon. The surcharge will be removed when fuel falls below that threshold.