St. Pete launches free shuttle route in time for holiday visitors

Visitors to St. Petersburg have one more reason to spend their weekends seeking out award-winning cuisine, strolling through local parks or window shopping in the many boutiques and stores found in downtown and the nearby thriving Central Arts District.

On Friday and Saturday nights through May 2016, weekend visitors to DTSP and the Central Arts District neighborhood can park once at the Sundial (117 Second Street North) or South Core (101 First Ave. South) parking garages (regular rates apply), then board the free shuttle.

Destinations along the Park Once route include the downtown waterfront, Beach Drive and the Central Arts District. Shuttles will run on a continuous loop on Friday and Saturday nights between 5 p.m. and midnight, with about 7-10 minutes between each stop. 

The Park Once shuttle route also intersects with the area’s already implemented Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority's Central Avenue Trolley and Downtown Looper routes. 

Five Park Once shuttle stops are located at the Sundial garage on First Avenue North; outside the South Core garage on Central Avenue; on Central Avenue, at Fourth Street; at Fifth Avenue North, in front of the Vinoy; and on Bayshore Drive at Second Avenue North.

Evan Mory, director of Transportation and Parking for the city of St. Petersburg, notes that the program will be re-evaluated after six months to determine whether the Park Once program “should be made permanent, with any tweaks to make it even better.”

The City of St. Petersburg launched the Park Once downtown shuttle pilot program in November 2015 and Mory says that the response from the public has been “very positive.”

By the second weekend of the Park Once program, “we had a good turnout that will continue to grow,” Mory says.

Drivers and two motor coaches for the Park Once program are contracted through Largo-based Escot Bus Lines, Mory says. Shuttles are air-conditioned, equipped with bicycle racks and a wheelchair lift, and can each seat 30 passengers.

Along with the free shuttle, the Park Once program will expand in 2016 to include components like a bike share program and bus route re-alignments in the downtown neighborhood.