HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, Fla. -- The future of the Cross Bay Ferry for travel between St. Petersburg and Tampa is being discussed Wednesday.
- More than 40,000 people rode ferry during trial season
- St. Pete supports allocating $150,000 to revive ferry
- Proposal needs support of Tampa, Hillsborough, Pinellas leaders
It was a pilot program to see if residents in both cities would utilize the new service. As it turns out, the trial run was a success.
St. Petersburg mayor Rick Kriseman is going before the Hillsborough County Commission to ask that it bring the Cross Bay Ferry back until a more permanent decision about ferry service is made.
A six-month trial of the Cross Bay Ferry ended in April 2017, with more than 40,000 people taking a ride on it during that test season.
Those who took the ferry spent an estimated $1.2 million across both cities.
While St. Petersburg city officials want it back, they'll need the support of the City of Tampa as well as Hillsborough and Pinellas counties in order to make it a reality.
The city council is supporting allocating $150,000 to revive the Cross Bay Ferry and is asking that Tampa and the two counties do the same.
Kriseman was scheduled to go before the county commission at 11:30 a.m. Wednesday.