When it comes to modern transit, the bar is pretty low, perhaps subterranean, around here. We’ve earned the reputation of a major market that has venerated sprawl and castigated taxes instead of underwriting meaningful transit to enhance quality of life and induce more businesses and millennials to relocate here. It’s a frustratingly familiar refrain.
Now there is hope that a modest step–a concession to the reality of all the water that surrounds us–may be forthcoming. One that doesn’t need the cooperation of non-urban referenda voters.
It would be a cross-bay ferry that would connect the downtowns of Tampa and St. Petersburg. Details–including price agreement and dockside transportation options–are not finalized, but local governing bodies, including the Hillsborough County Commission, have signed on for a trial seasonal run that could start on Nov.1.
No, it’s not a done deal, nor is success guaranteed. But we’ll take it. Imagine, ferry service for locals and visitors for a major coastal community. What a concept. Imagine, regional cooperation being alive and, well, viable in Tampa Bay. A ferry tale–not another transit fairy tale.