Veto ends PSTA program providing rides to cancer treatment

For hundreds of transportation-disadvantaged residents across Tampa Bay, today is the last day they’ll be able to rely on TD Tampa Bay for rides to life-sustaining medical appointments.

The service helped low-income residents travel across county lines for essential medical care, including appointments at Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa.

In a statement provided to the St. Pete Catalyst, Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority spokesperson Amanda Boisen said the curb-to-curb service is ending after Gov. Ron DeSantis vetoed a $6 million statewide appropriation for Florida’s Commission for the Transportation Disadvantaged Innovative Service Development Grant Program.

Boisen said the grant provided $409,338 to PSTA between July 1, 2025, and June 30, 2026. During that time, TD Tampa Bay provided more than 6,000 rides for nearly 200 low-income residents seeking life-sustaining medical care at Moffitt Cancer Center and other medical facilities.

Although the grant expired June 30, PSTA used local funding to continue operating the service throughout July, paying for nearly 400 additional trips to give riders time to arrange other transportation before today’s shutdown.

PSTA recently received a $50,000 grant from Uber and is exploring ways to use the money to restore a limited number of trips for life-sustaining medical care later this fall. Beyond that, the agency said it will continue exploring options to revive the regional service.

TD Tampa Bay launched in 2022 after PSTA received state funding to restore a regional transportation service that had previously ended because of a lack of funding. The service connected eligible riders in Pinellas, Hillsborough and Pasco counties with medical care and other essential destinations that often could not be reached through traditional transit.

The Innovative Service Development Grant Program is administered by Florida’s Commission for the Transportation Disadvantaged. According to the Florida Association of Counties, lawmakers included $6 million for the program in the 2026-27 budget to support direct transportation services for transportation-disadvantaged residents, including regional projects requiring a 10% local match. DeSantis later eliminated the funding through a line-item veto. The appropriation appears as line item 2054-1 on page 13 of the governor’s veto list.

St. Petersburg District 5 Councilmember Deborah Figgs-Sanders called the program’s termination “unfortunate” in a social media post, saying it provided about 200 regular riders with life-sustaining trips, most to Moffitt Cancer Center and other medical facilities across Tampa Bay.

“Lord have mercy!”