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Taking a bus to there could take an eternity

Ridership is up, but the area's transit network is hardly practical.

By WILL VAN SANT
Published February 5, 2007

No wonder cars hold sway in Tampa Bay.

Trying to get around the region by bus, the sole mode of public transit, is about as convenient as a spear in the eye.

Leaders on both sides of the bay know this, and have renewed calls for progress in the transportation arena. Better coordination of the area's bus systems is on the table, as are more daring proposals like a light rail system.

But how bad is it?

The Times decided to find out what it takes to get from, say, downtown St. Petersburg to Tampa International Airport using public transit.

We've found that it's possible to make that trip and others between destinations in Pinellas, Hillsborough and Pasco counties.

But in spite of a recent ridership surge that suggests a hunger for alternatives to the area's car culture, what the bus network makes possible remains far from practical.

"We as leaders have to roll up our sleeves," said Tampa Mayor Pam Iorio, a force behind the current focus on transit. "If not, the quality of life now and in the future will be impacted."

* * *

Say you live in downtown St. Petersburg or are a guest at the Hilton Bayfront and need to make a flight at TIA, which handles nearly all of the bay area's passenger air traffic.

You better leave early and pack a lot of quarters.

The route transit officials say is the quickest will take three hours, cost $5.50 and involve taking three different buses.

By car, the 22-mile trip takes about 27 minutes.

Start by catching a Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority bus at Williams Park, as a reporter did on a recent Wednesday morning.

You can't buy a pass to the airport, so you pay a $1.50 fare at Williams Park and take the bus to Gateway Plaza, where you pay $2.50 to connect to another PSTA bus, the 100X, which crosses the Gandy Bridge into Hillsborough County.

The 100X takes you to the Marion Transit Center in downtown Tampa. From there, you would pay a $1.50 fare to catch a Hillsborough Area Regional Transit bus that meanders through the city center, west down Kennedy Boulevard and north to the airport.

The bus makes a single passenger drop at the red terminal arrivals area. This final leg, like the first two, involves multiple stops and takes just under an hour.

On this day, the bus carried an airport employee to work, but nobody had connected all the way from St. Petersburg to catch a flight.

It's simply not viable, said passenger Jay Shull, 27.

Shull rides the bus from St. Petersburg to a Tampa music school, where he gives lessons on Wednesdays and Saturdays.

His commute takes about two hours. Besides the length of time it takes, Shull can get to work by bus only on Wednesdays because there's no weekend service on the 100X.

"It's sad that the transit system is so disjointed," he said. "We need to have some kind of integrated connectors."

* * *

Not interested in catching a plane? How about taking in some Gulf of Mexico views?

If you're in New Port Richey and want to take the bus to spend the day on world-famous Clearwater Beach, get ready for a transit odyssey.

"You've got a long trip" said Shirley Howard, PSTA's head of customer service. "There's no express."

The adventure takes nearly 3 1/2 hours, costs $4 though a day pass can save cash if you're doing a round trip, and involves four buses.

So if you want to have your toes in the sand by 10 a.m., get started about 6:30 a.m.

From the corner of Main and Madison streets in downtown New Port Richey, catch a Pasco County Public Transportation bus to Southgate Shopping Center. There, you'll connect to another Pasco bus to Huey Avenue in Tarpon Springs.

Then, grab a PSTA bus to downtown Clearwater. A fourth and final bus will take you across the Intracoastal Waterway and to the beach.

The 27-mile trip takes about 41 minutes by car.

* * *

If you've just purchased a home in the swelling suburbs of Central Pasco and work in downtown Tampa, you could be in luck.

Some dedicated commuter express service does exist.

About a year ago, HART began running two bus routes from Central Pasco to downtown Tampa.

Both routes originate at a Park-N-Ride in a church lot in Wesley Chapel. There's a second lot near County Line Road.

The trip takes an hour and costs $2.50, though you can save money by purchasing fare cards.

There are some catches, though. The direct express makes only two southbound trips in the morning - the first at 6:01 a.m., the second at 6:27 a.m. And there's no weekend service.

"It's pretty much the minimum," said HART executive director Ray Miller. "Certainly additional express service is warranted, but it's a matter of what we can afford."

One more thing, the Pasco bus system doesn't serve either of the Park-N-Rides. So even if you wanted to commute to work in downtown Tampa by bus from Pasco, you'll still probably start the day in a car.

* * *

There are indications that people are eager for alternatives to escalating congestion.

Bus ridership, for instance, is growing steadily and more quickly than in past years. In Pinellas, ridership has risen 23 percent since 2002, to 11.4-million trips in 2006. In Hillsborough, growth was 30 percent, to 10.7-million trips; and in Pasco, an astonishing 129 percent, to 861,000 trips.

Also, a December survey of eight Central Florida counties by the state Department of Transportation found that 57 percent of respondents were "very likely" or "somewhat likely" to support a tax increase for better public transit.

"People are frustrated," said Pinellas County Commission chairman Ronnie Duncan. "They perceive the traffic and the difficulty of getting around our region as getting to a level that's not going to be acceptable."

Elected officials are responding. Duncan is attempting to form a regional transit group to coordinate efforts in Pinellas, Hillsborough and Pasco counties.

State Rep. Bill Galvano and Sen. Mike Fasano are expected to sponsor a bill this year to create an eight-county transit authority. The authority would have the power to raise revenue, plan and build transit projects.

Inward-looking governments and limited political will have doomed earlier attempts at promoting more integrated transit in Tampa Bay. Those days must end, say leaders like Duncan and Mayor Iorio.

It's time to demolish barriers and make progress, they say.

"The public already knows it and they are waiting for a plan to be presented to them that makes sense," Iorio said. "We know that we are already behind."

Will Van Sant can be reached at (727) 445-4166 or vansant@sptimes.com.

[Last modified February 5, 2007, 11:10:36]