Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority

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Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority

Founded	1984
Headquarters	3201 Scherer Drive, St. Petersburg, Florida
Locale	Pinellas County, Florida
Service area	Pinellas County
Service type	bus service
Alliance	Pinellas County Government
Routes	40
Stops	4602
Fleet	210
Daily ridership	32,000 (weekdays, Q2 2024)[1]
Annual ridership	10,052,000 (2023)[2]
Fuel type	Clean Diesel, Diesel-Electric Hybrid, Battery Electric
Chief executive	Brad Miller
Website	www.psta.net

The Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority (PSTA) is a government agency that provides public transportation for Pinellas County, Florida. The authority manages a fixed-route bus system that encompasses over 40 bus routes - including two express routes to Tampa; the Central Avenue Trolley; the Suncoast Beach Trolley; and the bus rapid transit service, the SunRunner.

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.^[3][4]

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 of 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.^[5]

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.^[6] 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).^[7] 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.^[8]

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 "PSTA Brings Together Uber and Taxi to get People on the Bus". Mass Transit Magazine. Mass Transit Magazine. 2017-01-19. Retrieved 2022-11-14.. In 2018, a partnership between PSTA, HART, Pasco County Public Transportation, and transit agencies in Hernando, Manatee, and Sarasota counties began working on a regional fare collection system called Flamingo Fares Tampa Bay. This system would allow customers to use either a smartphone app or a smart card to tap a reader device and pay for their transit fares in a seamless, contactless manner. While Manatee County was involved in the initial phase of the program, county officials decided to leave the project in pursuit of a different fare collection vendor.^[9] The same year, PSTA announced that it would partner with Transit App to help provide real-time bus arrival predictions and eventually other features to customers via the use of smartphones.^[10] The agency also introduced its first two battery electric buses - produced by BYD, and revamped Route 300X to serve Tampa International Airport on most trips.^[11][12]

In 2018, PSTA pushed ahead with planning for what would become the SunRunner, with planning for the project reaching 60% completion by September, 2019.^[13] The SunRunner branding was formally unveiled in 2020, along with the project groundbreaking.^[14] Despite delays in the project - partly due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the SunRunner opened to customers on October 21, 2022 to great fanfare.^[15]

PSTA operates 38 routes (including one limited express route) that traverse Pinellas County and 2 express routes that connect into downtown Tampa.^[16]

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 Grand Central Station, while the SBT traverses Gulf Blvd between Clearwater Beach and St. Pete Beach (the latter also serves Downtown Clearwater via the Memorial Causeway Bridge). Until December, 2023, the CAT served St. Pete Beach.

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.

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.

In December, 2023, Route 813 was eliminated due to low ridership, while Route 814 was converted into a fully on-demand based model. Customers may contact PSTA by phone or use the PSTA Access smartphone app to summon a ride [1].

Since 2009, PSTA has been planning some form of Bus Rapid Transit service to better serve customers along higher-ridership corridors. The first area of focus is the 1st Ave N/1st Ave S and Pasadena Ave corridors to allow customers a faster trip between Downtown St. Pete and St. Pete Beach. In the mid 2010s, concrete plans were presented for the county's first BRT route utilizing the aforementioned corridors. In 2019, the SunRunner name was given to the project and construction began in 2020. The SunRunner launched in October 2022.

The SunRunner route operates on fifteen-minute intervals everyday from 6:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m., and in thirty-minute intervals thereafter until midnight, using 40' Gillig BRT Plus buses. The 1st Ave N, 1st Ave S, and Pasadena Ave corridors will utilize dedicated bus lanes with stylized stations. Along Gulf Blvd, stylized stations will be placed but buses will operate in mostly mixed traffic.

• 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, Jolley Trolley, SBT
• Tyrone Square Mall - Serving Routes: 5, 7, 18, 20, 22, 23, 38, 62, 68, 73, 75, 79
• Countryside Mall - Serving Routes: 19, 61, 62, 67, 76, 78, 812, 814 (on-demand)
• 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, Jolley Trolley

In addition to the cross-bay express routes, PSTA also provides connections to Pasco County Public Transportation (PCPT) bus routes 18 and 19 via PSTA routes 19 and 66.

PSTA operates a fleet of 210 transit buses.^[17] The bus fleet consists of a fleet of Gillig Low Floor and BRT buses as well as BYD buses. They are powered by clean diesel, diesel-electric hybrid, and battery-electric. All buses were equipped with barrier shields in the operator area during the course of 2020 through 2021, and many buses are being fitted with LCD screens that display next stops and customer information - replacing the LED-based scroll signs near the front of the bus interior.

Year	Builder/Model	Picture	Numbers	Length (feet)	Fuel Type	Notes
2005	Gillig Low Floor		2501-2508, 2510-2517, 2530-2534	40, 35, 29	Diesel	Contingency Fleet. 2501, 2502, 2504,2506 2508,2511,2512,2514,2515,2516,2517 and 2534 are no longer in service.
2006	Gillig Low Floor		2601-2636, 2650-2661	40, 35	Diesel	2601 is a 2005 model. 2602, 2615, 2618, 2622, 2624, 2626, 2655 2658 and 2659 are no longer in service.
2007	Gillig Low Floor		2701-2711, 2712-2718	40, 35	Diesel	2706.2710 and is no longer in service. 2711 was reactivated on 11/7/24 was out of service for 2 months 2703 was repainted into PSTA's new livery and has new mirrors	2008	Gillig Low Floor		2801-2815, 2830-2835	40, 35	Diesel	2801, 2802, 2804, 2807, 2808, 2810,2812 2813, 2815, and 2830-2835 are no longer in service.
2009	Gillig Low Floor BRT		2901-2903, 2910-2911	35	2901-2903: Hybrid, 2910-2911: Diesel
2010	Gillig Low Floor BRT		10101-10114	35	Diesel-Electric Hybrid	10105 is no longer in service.
2012	Gillig Low Floor BRT		12101-12108	40	Diesel-Electric Hybrid	12106 is no longer in service.
2013	Gillig Low Floor BRT		13101-13108	40	Diesel-Electric Hybrid
2014	Gillig Low Floor BRT		14101-14108	40	Diesel-Electric Hybrid
2015	Gillig Low Floor BRT		15101-15113	40	Diesel-Electric Hybrid	15104 was involved in an accident in 2017 and returned to service in 2019. 15111 was involved in an accident in 2023 and returned to service in 2024. 15112 and 15113 are wrapped for express service. 15101 is a pilot bus equipped with LCD screens (screens are installed on all 2020 and 2021 buses), as well as white colored destination signs that were adapted to the 2018 & 2019 Gillig orders.
2016	Gillig Low Floor BRT (BRT front, Standard rear)		16101-16107	40	Diesel-Electric Hybrid	All buses are wrapped for express service, with some units containing interior luggage racks for Route 300X service.
2017	Gillig Low Floor BRT (BRT front, Standard rear)		17101-17103	35	Diesel-Electric Hybrid
2018	Gillig Low Floor BRT (BRT front, Standard rear)		18101-18109	35	Diesel-Electric Hybrid	Arrived in Fall 2018
2018	BYD K9S		18110-18111	35	Battery-Electric	First battery electric buses for PSTA. Arrived in August 2018
2018	Freightliner S2		1801-1808	27	Diesel	Used on connector routes.
2019	Gillig Low Floor BRT (BRT front, Standard rear)		19101-19109	35	Diesel-Electric Hybrid	Arrived in Spring 2019
2020	BYD K9S		20110-20113	35	Battery-Electric	Last BYD bus order under the original 5 year contract. All future electric bus orders (subject to change) will be through Gillig.
2021	Gillig BRT Plus		21101-21109	40	Diesel-Electric Hybrid	Arrived in Fall 2021. Used for SunRunner BRT service.
2023	Gillig Low Floor Plus EV		23101-23106	40	Battery Electric	First Gillig EV order for PSTA. 1st batch is currently under production. The pilot units are 23101 and 23102, while the 1st production units are 23103 through 23106. A total of 62 buses have been ordered - to be produced and delivered over the course of five years. # 23101 was showcased at the APTA Mobility Conference in Minneapolis, MN.
2024	Gillig BRT Plus		21110-21112	40	Diesel-Electric Hybrid	An order for three additional hybrid buses was placed in 2022 to provide operational spares for the SunRunner. Numbering continues off from the 211XX series rather than using 241XX numbers.
2024	Gillig Low Floor Plus EV		24101-24108	40	Battery Electric	Apart of the 5 year production order for the Gillig low floor plus EV.

Year	Builder/Model	Example	Numbers	Length (ft)	Fuel Type	Notes
2020/21	Hometown Manufacturing Streetcar		2001-2020	35	Clean Diesel	Trolley-replica buses, replacing all 2007, 2008, and 2009 Gillig models. Vehicles began entering service in December, 2021.

Year	Builder/Model	Example	Numbers	Length (ft)	Notes
1973	General Motors TDH3302A		101-121	30	Formerly Central Pinellas Transit Authority 101-121
1975	General Motors T6H4523A		201-214	35	Formerly Central Pinellas Transit Authority 201-214
1976	General Motors T6H4523A		1164-1173	35	Formerly St. Petersburg Municipal Transit System 1164-1173.
1978	General Motors TW7603		401-404	35	Formerly Central Pinellas Transit Authority 401-404
1979	General Motors T7W603		1174-1187	35	Formerly St. Petersburg Municipal Transit System 1174-1187.
1980	General Motors T7W603		601-614	35	Formerly Central Pinellas Transit Authority 601-614
1982	General Motors T8J604		1200-1224	40	first 40-foot buses in St. Petersburg/Clearwater Formerly St. Petersburg Municipal Transit System 1200-1224.
1983	General Motors T7J604		701-707	35	Formerly Central Pinellas Transit Authority 701-707.
1985	Flxible 35096-6T		1001-1015	35	First buses ever Purchased new by Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority.
1983	Flxible 40096-6T		8301-8308	40	formerly HART 311, 313-318, 321 bought in 1986. 8301-8307 were sold to Palm Tran as 8301-8307 in 1995.
1989	Flxible 35096-6T		8901-8915	35	1 unit (unknown model year) was bought by Fleetwood and was used as a shuttle at Shades of Green Resort in Bay Lake, FL. It was spotted running in March 2008.
1991	Gillig Spirit		9101-9110	30	2 units were sold to Fort Wayne Public Transportation Corporation (Citilink) as 9158-9159.
1992	Bus Industries of America Orion I/01.502		9201-9210	30
1993	Flxible 35096-6T		9301-9321	35
1994	Gillig Phantom S50T3596		9401-9432	35
1995	Advanced Vehicle Systems Electric		2001	30	Battery-operated electric bus
1996	New Flyer D40LF	[3]	9601-9615	40	9601, 9609, 9610, 9613-9615 sold to Paul Revere Transportation.
1997	New Flyer D30LF, D35LF	[4]	9701-9735 (35-foot), 9750-9759 (30-foot)	30 and 35	9702, 9705, and 9729 sold to Maingate Transportation. 9713 and 9718 sold to Transtar.
1998	New Flyer C40LF		9801-9804	40
1999	Gillig G21D102N4		9901-9908	40
2001	Gillig G27D102N4 Low Floor		2101-2116	40	2102-2104, 2110-2112 are retired. 2111 sold to City Sightseeing San Francisco 229.
2002	Gillig G27D102N4, G27E102R2 Low Floor	[5]	2201-2210 (40-foot), 2230-2233 (29-foot)	40 and 29	Retired as of 7/1/19.
2003	Motor Coach Industries (MCI) D4000		2301-2310	40
2007	Gillig G29B102N4 Low Floor Trolley		720-722	35	Trolley-replica buses, modified by Cable Car Classics. Retired in 2021.
2008	Gillig Low Floor		2801,2802,2804,2807,2808,2810,2812 2813,2815 2830-2835	40 35
2008	Gillig G27B102N4 Low Floor Trolley		820-825	35	Trolley-replica buses, modified by Cable Car Classics. Powered by clean diesel. Retired in 2021.
2009	Gillig G30B102N4 Hybrid Low Floor Trolley		920-926	35	Trolley-replica buses, modified by Cable Car Classics. Powered by the same Advanced Hybrid drive train as the SmartBus. Distinguishable by a white roof. Retired in 2021.

• Official website
• Tampa Bay Transit