History
PSTA's roots trace back to the early 1900s as the St. Petersburg Municipal Transit System (SPMTS). The system began with a streetcar line to Gulfport and eight buses to run several routes throughout the St. Pete area. Unlike the advent and expansion of Tampa's original streetcar system, the Gulfport streetcar only encompassed 23 miles of track along its singular line. However, the line proved to be popular amongst area residents during its heyday. In 1928, the entire SPMTS system carried 4.2 million customers, marking a major milestone for the agency. As the 1930s came and went, streetcar usage began to decline - as was the case nationwide. By 1949, the streetcar line had closed, marking the end of streetcar service in Pinellas County as a whole. Despite the demise of the Gulfport trolley, bus service throughout Pinellas County continued to expand throughout the 1940s, 50s, and 60s. In 1970, the Central Pinellas Transit Authority (CPTA) was formed, serving the Clearwater area and northern Pinellas. The agency was fully established by 1973 and operated 9 routes with a fleet of 21 buses. The CPTA saw 900,000 riders in its first year of service. In 1975, SPMTS begins paratransit services and both agencies continue to expand their fleet. In 1978, tourist trolley service (using trolley-replica buses) began in downtown St. Petersburg and became successful. By the 1980s, the two agencies formed a cooperative agreement, which allowed the expansion of routes throughout Pinellas County. This agreement also led to the creation of a single customer service phone number. In October 1984, the two companies formally merged (via an act of the Florida Legislature) to create the PSTA. In the years following their merger, PSTA operated nearly 80 routes with a fleet or nearly 130 buses. The agency begins installing electronic fareboxes and completed its central Pinellas operations center, as well as several bus terminals. In 1990, PSTA obtained its first express route, previously operated by Hillsborough Area Regional Transit (HART). Also in 1990, PSTA established a cross-county bus route via US 19. Further expansion of bus service continued through the 1990s and 2000s; with the construction of bus terminals at Williams Park in Downtown St. Petersburg (opening in 1994) and the Central Plaza Terminal (now known as Grand Central Station) in the Grand Central District off Central Ave near US 19 (opening in 2002). The agency introduced electronic fare cards (GO Cards) in 1996, as well as accelerated replacement of outdated buses. In 2001, the Suncoast Beach Trolley began service along the gulf coast beaches and in 2003, PSTA purchased a fleet of commuter buses to operate its express routes. A year later, PSTA and HART introduced an intersystem ''Passport'' to allow customers to use each other's systems for a single monthly fare. In 2005, PSTA relocated all of its operations to a single, unified facility in northern St. Petersburg - near Ulmerton Rd and Roosevelt Blvd. In 2006, HART and PSTA agreed to honor each other's reduced fare photo permits. From the late 2000s onward, PSTA began purchasing diesel-electric hybrid buses and attempted to bring forth further expanded bus service, as well as premium transit service such as Bus Rapid Transit or Light Rail Transit to Pinellas County. This began with a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the agency, the Tampa Bay Area Regional Transit Authority (TBARTA), the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT), and the Pinellas County Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) to conduct an Alternatives Analysis of transit corridors in Pinellas County. This was then followed up by a series of public engagement sessions and eventually the failed attempt in 2014 by Pinellas County to pass a sales tax referendum (Greenlight Pinellas). In 2012, the agency launched the North County Connector flex-route van service, allowing customers in areas of northern Pinellas to have access to transit service - including those in neighborhoods by which regular transit buses have difficulty accessing or where a traditional fixed bus route would have lower ridership projections. The three routes have since been modified to serve areas with demand for the service. In 2017, PSTA began ''Direct Connect'', which allows customers to summon a ride via taxi or ride share to connect to or from a designated stop or bus terminal . In 2018, a partnership between PSTA, HART,Bus routes
PSTA operates 38 routes (including one limited express route) that traverse Pinellas County and 2 express routes that connect into downtown Tampa.Local
Express services
Trolley Services
PSTA operates two fixed-route trolley services using trolley-replica buses - the Central Ave Trolley (CAT) and the Suncoast Beach Trolley (SBT). The CAT traverses Central Ave between Downtown St. Pete's Pier District and St. Pete Beach (the Pinellas County Beach Access at 4700 Gulf Blvd) while the SBT traverses Gulf Blvd between Clearwater Beach and St. Pete Beach (the latter also serves Downtown Clearwater via the Memorial Causeway Bridge). The CAT and SBT connect with each other in northern St. Pete Beach (at the 75th Ave transfer point). The CAT connects to other PSTA routes along Central Ave - including at Grand Central Station and Downtown St. Pete. The SBT connects to Route 59 in Indian Rocks Beach, Route 68 at Johns Pass, and other routes in Clearwater.North County Connector
The North County Connector was originally launched in 2012 and was modeled off of HART's HART Flex service. The sub-network used cutaway vans to access areas of northern Pinellas County that would be otherwise inaccessible to standard transit buses. The three original routes consisted of Route 811 - serving the eastern Lake Tarpon area, Route 812 - serving Oldsmar and Town-N-Country, and Route 813 - serving Palm Harbor. Route 811 was eliminated in 2015 due to low usage. In 2016, service to Safety Harbor was added in part due to the rerouting of Route 62. This eventually led to the creation of Route 814 in 2016. In 2019, the routes were restructured to become standard fixed routes. However, the 800-series route numbers were kept due to the continuation of the routes being operated by cutaway vans.SunRunner BRT
Since 2009, PSTA has been planning some form ofBus Hubs/Transit Centers
* Grand Central Station - Downtown St. Petersburg - Serving Routes: 5, 7, 9, 11, 14, 15, 18, 34, 52, 52LX, 79, 90, CAT (Also serving Downtown St. Pete are Routes 4, 14, 16, 20, 23, 32, 79, 100X, Looper * Park Street Terminal - Downtown Clearwater - Serving Routes: 18, 52, 52LX, 60, 61, 65, 66L, 67, 73, 76, 78, Jolly Trolley, SBT * Tyrone Square Mall - Serving Routes: 5, 7, 18, 20, 22, 23, 38, 62, 68, 73, 75, 79 * Westfield Countryside - Serving Routes: 19, 61, 62, 67, 76, 78, DPC, OTC, SHC * Gateway Mall - Serving Routes: 4, 9, 16, 58, 74, 75, 100X * Pinellas Park Transit Center - Serving Routes: 11, 34, 52, 52LX, 74, 75 ** Serves as a stop for Greyhound. * PSTA 34th Street Transfer Center - Serving Routes: 4, 11, 52, 52LX, 59 * Largo Transit Center - Serving Routes: 19, 34, 52, 52LX, 79 * Ulmerton Park-n-Ride - Serving Routes: 59, 300X * Largo Mall - Serving Routes: 18, 59 * Seminole Shopping Center - Serving Routes: 18, 58, 65, 74 * Indian Rocks Shopping Center - Serving Routes: 59, 61, 65 * Clearwater Beach Transit Center - Serving Routes: SBT, Jolly TrolleyConnection to PCPT
In addition to the cross-bay express routes, PSTA also provides connections toActive Fleet
PSTA operates a fleet of 210 transit buses. The bus fleet consists of a fleet of GilligTransit Fixed-Route Buses
Trolley Replicas
Future Orders
Retired Fleet
References
External links
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