New sun runner bus opens to public
New cheaper, easier, and more efficient mode of transportation arrives in the St. Petersburg area.
The SunRunner is a brand-new, Bus Rapid Transit service offered by PSTA in Tampa Bay. The SunRunner takes you where you need to go by cruising through traffic in its own lane. For the first six months, it is free. Every 15 minutes, from 6 a.m. to midnight, seven days a week, the buses will run and It travels through majority of downtown and ends at St. Pete Beach.
January 30, 2023
The Sun Runner is offering fast modern transportation services to St. Petersburg.
The bus opened to the public on Oct 21, 2022. It runs every 15 minutes during the day, during the evening hours it runs every 30 minutes with fewer stops. For the first 6 months of running, it will be free to the public, after that it will be $5.00 for a whole day of riding or $2.50 for singular rides. You must make these purchases through the Flamingo Fare’s app or a digital card. It is a 10.3-mile route, it runs from Downtown St. Petersburg all the way down to St. Pete beach. This will make it more efficient, easier, cheaper and quicker to connect the beach and downtown area. The 10 mile 16 stop line is designed to meet the demands of work commuters and attract tourists and new riders into PSTA’s comprehensive transit system.
“It made it way more convenient for me to travel to work, and I make it faster than regular bussing,” bus rider Bonnie Schaefer said.
The Sun Runner initial studies and planning began in 2009 and after numerous studies and public interest meetings were held, the city started the designing process in 2018. They finalized the route design and released it on July 8, 2020 and started construction on Aug. 17, 2020. In May of 2020, the PSTA was awarded $21.8 million in federal grant funding from the federal transit administration and a capital investment grant program which covered half of the cost for building the Sun Runner. That was the first capital investment grant awarded to the Tampa Bay region. The Florida department of transportation provided 25% of the funding, while PSTA and the city of St. Petersburg split the remaining construction costs. Future costs will be supported by PSTA and FDOT.
CEO Brad Miller was the one to make it happen, being the main individual that set up the system and got it running. Communication and public relations manager Stephanie Rank runs the email for Brad Miller.
“We are extremely excited that it is up and running and everybody loves it,” Rank said.
The Sun Runner makes it possible to move more people along existing roads, which is an important factor for fast growing Pinellas County. The buses improve the traffic flow for all modes of travel. Each Sun Runner bus can take as many as 50 cars off the road, as well as free up space on the roads and manage vehicle congestion.