Tampa-St. Pete market gets ready for the ferry

Organizers behind a St. Petersburg/Tampa ferry service released a calendar of upcoming milestones in the highly anticipated project, leading to an inaugural launch trip in early November.

The service, according to a statement, now has a formal name: The Cross-Bay Ferry. The launch of the Cross-Bay Ferry is part of collaboration between the City of St. Petersburg, the City of Tampa, Hillsborough County and Pinellas County, according to a statement.

“Everywhere I go, people ask me about the ferry,” St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Kriseman, an early supporter of the project, says in the statement. “The Cross-Bay Ferry is a fantastic example of regional collaboration to take on an important challenge - transportation - in a way that's exciting to experience and pays homage to our maritime history. Importantly, this is a test project, and we need the community to support this if we want it to continue and expand.”

Cross-Bay Ferry designed the schedule to test and serve various market segments. Regular Monday through Thursday service will accommodate both the tourist and commuter market, the releases states, while Friday through Sunday service will test and serve the entertainment, sports, shopping and tourism markets. Initial ticket prices will likely begin at $10 per one-way trip, with special discounts for regular commuters, and other prices offset by promotional partnerships.

The pilot project includes the following milestones:
• Oct. 15: Projected date for commencement of online ticket sales.
• Late October: Vessel scheduled to arrive in Tampa Bay, subject to weather and transportation schedules.
• Early November: Inaugural VIP launch trip. Scheduled Friday/Saturday/Sunday service begins for the public Nov. 4.
• Thanksgiving Week: Free “Test the Waters” events for the general public.
•Week of Nov. 28: Weekday service commences with Monday-Thursday commuter service and mid-day service for recreational and tourist trips.

"We only have one vessel, and one crew, so we cannot do everything, but we do mean to showcase this technology to a lot of people and test ferry service in a variety of ways and markets,” says Ed Turanchik with Akerman LLP, a policy advisor for the project, in a release. "I think we have managed to do the most we can possibly do in a single, short pilot project."

The Cross-Bay Ferry vessel is a 55-foot catamaran that seats up to 149 passengers for the roughly 50-minute voyage between the cities. At St. Petersburg, the vessel will dock in the yacht basin along Bay Shore Drive NE. At Tampa, the vessel will dock adjacent to the Tampa Convention Center. For more information, go to the service's new website, CrossBayFerry.com.