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Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority

Parent	PSTA
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	37[1]
Stops	5,109
Fleet	203[1]
Daily ridership	14.5 Million annually
Fuel type	Diesel Hybrid Electric
Chief executive	Brad Miller
Website	www.psta.net

The Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority (PSTA) provides public transportation for Pinellas County, Florida. The authority manages a bus system that encompasses over 40 bus routes - including 2 express routes to Tampa, 3 flex-route neighborhood connectors (the PSTA North County Connector), the Central Avenue Trolley, and the Suncoast Beach Trolley - and uses all Gillig made buses and trolley replicas).

Park Street Terminal, Clearwater, FL

History

• PSTA began in 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. By 1928, ridership on the system hit 4.2 million. In 1949, the Gulfport streetcar system was closed, marking the end of streetcar service in Pinellas County. Meanwhile, transit service elsewhere continued to expand.


• 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.


• In October 1984, the two companies merged 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.


• Massive expansion and improvements took place during the 1990s and well into the 2000s. PSTA constructed its Williams Park terminal in downtown St. Pete in 1994. In 1996, the agency introduced electronic fare cards (called GO Cards) and began replacing their outdated bus fleets with a combination of New Flyer and Gillig buses. In 2001, the Suncoast Beach Trolley began service along the gulf coast beaches and in 2003, PSTA purchased a fleet of buses (from Motor Coach Industries) to operate its express routes. Additional capital improvements were made during the early 2000s as well, including the renovation of the Park Street Terminal. In 2001, the website PSTA.net debuted.


• In 2004, HART and PSTA began an intersystem passport to allow patrons from either county to use each other's bus systems without paying additional fares. A year later, PSTA's current operations center opened near Roosevelt Boulevard. In 2006, PSTA expanded its fleet with the purchase of 48 Gillig low-floor buses. HART and PSTA agreed to honor each other's reduced fare photo permits. In 2007, PSTA introduced an online trip planning system. This system allowed patrons to better plan out their trip throughout the PSTA system. In 2009, the interface was scrapped in favor of a partnership with Google, which HART began partnership back in 2007. This newest alliance allows patrons to seamlessly plan their trips on both the PSTA and HART systems.^[2] PSTA entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Tampa Bay Regional RT), 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. The study would focus on the area between downtown Clearwater, Gateway, and downtown St. Petersburg. The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) recognized the MOU as an excellent example of inter-agency cooperation.PSTA partnered with the MPO, TBARTA and Pinellas County Communications to carry out the region’s first ever eTownHall Meeting on Transit and the Pinellas County Alternatives Analysis. The event was broadcast live on PCC-TV and on the web, and citizens were able to participate online or via telephone. It was the first time that all three technologies were combined for a Town Hall type of event in Pinellas County. In 2010 PSTA added 14 Diesel-Electric Hybrid Buses, bringing the hybrid fleet up to a total of 24 vehicles. These vehicles are branded with the SmartBus logos and are painted a sleek shade of silver.Agency leaders decided that investing in the environmentally friendly and fuel-saving hybrid technology was the best move for both PSTA and the community. As a result, PSTA replaced 10 standard gasoline cars with new Ford Fusion hybrid-electrics. Like their hybrid bus counterparts, the agency has branded its new hybrid sedans as SmartCars.


• In 2012, PSTA 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 ^[3].

Bus routes

PSTA operates 34 routes that traverse Pinellas County and 2 express routes that connect into downtown Tampa.^[4]

Local

Express services

Suncoast Beach Trolley

PSTA Suncoast Beach Trolley connects patrons to the Pinellas Gulf Coast Beaches via trolley-replica buses (similar to HART's downtown trolleys, but rubber-tired).
The Suncoast Beach Trolley also connects to the Central Avenue Trolley (at St Pete Beach), as well as local routes: 59 (at Indian Rocks Beach), 68 (at Johns Pass) and 90 (at St Pete Beach), for seamless travel to and from other Pinellas destinations.

North County Connector

There are three flex-route cutaway van-operated "Connector" routes that operate in northern Pinellas County. The Dunedin/Palm Harbor Connector runs from Westfield Countryside to the Palm Harbor WalMart (off US 19 and Alderman Rd), the Oldsmar/Tampa/Countryside Connector runs from Westfield Countryside to the HART Northwest Transfer Center in Town-N-Country, via Oldsmar and the Shoppes at Boot Ranch, and the Safety Harbor Connector runs from Westfield Countryside to Phillipe Park in Safety Harbor. All connector routes run Monday through Saturday.

Connection to PCPT

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.

Active Fleet

The PSTA bus fleet is all Gillig Buses

Transit buses

Year	Builder/Model	Example	Numbers	Length (ft)	Active	Notes
2000	Gillig G27D102N4 Low Floor		2101-2116	40	Y	All revenue service buses are painted in the new livery. Some buses have been retired.
2002	Gillig G27D102N4, G27E102R2 Low Floor	[2]	2201-2210 (40-foot), 2230-2233 (29-foot)	40 and 29	Y	All revenue service buses are painted in the new livery. #'s 2204, 2205, 2210, 2230, and 2231 are no longer in service. #'s 2232 and 2233 are used as spares for the North County Connector.
2005	Gillig G29D102N4, G29B102N4, G29E102R2 Low Floor	[3]	2501-2508 (40-foot), 2510-2517 (35-foot), 2530-2534 (29-foot)	40, 35 and 29	Y	All revenue service buses are painted in the new livery. #'s 2530 through 2534 are used for the North County Connector.
2006	Gillig G29D102N4, G29B102N4 Low Floor	[4]	2601-2636 (40-foot), 2650-2661 (35-foot)	40 and 35	Y	All of these buses are in the new livery.
2007	Gillig G29D102N4, G29B102N4 Low Floor		2701-2711 (40-foot), 2712-2718 (35-foot)	40 and 35	Y	All of these buses are in the new livery.
2008	Gillig G27D102N4, G27B102N4 Low Floor 35FT and 40FT	[5]	2801-2815 (40-foot), 2830-2835 (35-foot)	40 and 35	Y	All of these buses are in the new livery.
2009-2019	Gillig G30B102N4, G27B102N4 Low Floor		2901-2903 (35-foot hybrid), 2910-2911 (35-foot straight diesel), 10101-10114 (35-foot hybrid), 12101-12108 (40-foot hybrid), 13101-13108 (40-foot hybrid), 14101-14108 (40-foot hybrid), 15101-15113 (40-foot hybrid), 16101-16107 (40-foot hybrid), 17101-17103 (35-foot hybrid), 18101-18109 (35-foot hybrid - all bus 18109 are in service as of 12/16/18), 19101-19109 (35-foot hybrid - on order, expected delivery Spring, 2019)	35/40	Y	#'s 16101, 16103, & 16106 are now specifically designated for Route 300X service with special wrapping and on-board luggage racks. Low Floor
2018-2019	BYD K9		18110-18111 (18110 is in service as of 12/16/18, 18111 has not yet entered service), 19110-19111 (on order, expected delivery Fall, 2019)	35	N	Currently on order. First battery electric buses for PSTA. To be used on the expanded Downtown St. Petersburg "Looper" route. Low Floor
2018	Champion/Freightliner Defender		1801-1808	30	N	Currently being prepped for service as of 12/16/18 - to replace the aging 2002 and 2005 vehicles for the North County Connector

Trolley Replicas

Retired Fleet

Year	Builder/Model	Example	Numbers (if available)	Length (ft)	Time in service	Number of buses in fleet	Notes
1973	General Motors TDH3302A		101-121	30		from Central Pinellas Transit Authority
1975	General Motors T6H4523A		201-214	35		from Central Pinellas Transit Authority
1976	General Motors T6H4523A		1164-1173	35		from St Petersburg Municipal Transit System
1978	General Motors TW7603		401-410	35		from Central Pinellas Transit Authority
1979	General Motors T7W603		1174-1187	35		from St Petersburg Municipal Transit System
1980	General Motors T7W603		601-614	35		from Central Pinellas Transit Authority
1982	General Motors T80604		1200-1224	40		from St Petersburg Municipal Transit System	first 40-foot buses in St Petersburg/Clearwater
1983	General Motors T70604		701-707	35		from Central Pinellas Transit Authority
1985	Flxible 35096-6T		1001-1015	35		First buses bought new by Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority
1983	Flxible 40096-6T		8301-8308	40		Bought used from Hillsborough Area Regional Transit	formerly HART 311, 313-318, 321
1989	Flxible 35096-6T		8901-8915	35
1991	Gillig Spirit		9101-9110	30
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	1994-
1995	Advanced Vehicle Systems Electric		2001	30			Battery-operated electric bus
1996	New Flyer D40LF	[6]	9601-9615	40	1996–2008		Retired in 2008
1997	New Flyer D30LF, D35LF	[7]	9701-9735 (35-foot), 9750-9759 (30-foot)	30 and 35	1997–2009		Retired in 2009
1998	New Flyer C40LF		9801-9804	40	1998-		CNG fuel
1999	Gillig G21D102N4		9901-9908	40	1999-
2003	Motor Coach Industries (MCI) D4000		2301-2310	40	2003-2018	10	Originally used for Express Routes 100X and 300X. PSTA decided to instead use regular transit buses on the routes upon retirement instead of purchasing another coach fleet and 2309 was the last unit to run in service as of May 2017.

References

External links

• 
  Official website


• Tampa Bay Transit