Cross Bay Ferry between Tampa and St. Petersburg to end early
HMS Ferries Inc., the vendor that provides ferry service between St. Petersburg and Tampa, has been declared to be in default of its agreement with Hillsborough County. John Muller, the county's facilities management and real estate services director, outlined the situation in an email to HMS on March 25.
He wrote that the Boston-based company wanted to replace the current ferry with a slower one that would take almost two hours to complete each one-way trip across Tampa Bay — twice as long as the current transit time. According to the agreement in place since 2021, HMS must provide a high-speed ferry. Muller's letter put HMS on notice and gave the company until April 3 to find another vessel.
Evan Mory, St. Petersburg's transportation and parking management director, told City Council members in a memo Tuesday that HMS did not meet that deadline. He wrote that Hillsborough's staff told him that they intend to bring a cancellation recommendation to that County Commission on April 16.
'However, it is assuredly expected that April 30th will be last day of ferry service this Spring,' Mory said.
The Cross Bay Ferry is on its forth and final year of service under the current agreement, which was supposed to end on Sept. 30. Mory noted in a March 25 letter to City Council members that the city will save $102,000 with service ending early 'although it would be [preferable] to have service end in September,' he wrote.
Pinellas County's transit authority wants to better integrate the Cross Bay Ferry by buying its own ferry, but Hillsborough County is hesitant to turn over a nearly $5 million federal grant to help make that happen.
Mory told council members that the city will be working with the Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority and other government partners to identify a new ferry program that could be restarted as early as this fall, depending on the solicitation process and the availability of potential vendors.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
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