The Tampa Bay area's biggest failure of the moment has to be our utter inability to get traction for a meaningful and necessary transportation plan to take us into the future.
Reasonable referendums to pay for roads and transit fail, and fail again. Elected officials fear political kneecapping if they dare even speak the word "rail" — heck, even if they talk up "transportation improvements" beyond patching the latest pothole.
So we sit, stuck in traffic, literally and otherwise.
Now here comes the Cross-Bay Ferry. We do have a penchant for the piecemeal, a way of doing things backward around here.
For months now, the sleek 98-foot boat has shuttled locals, fun-seekers and, yes, maybe even a few actual commuters, across the waters between the downtowns of Tampa and St. Petersburg.
If you have not taken the 50-minute journey and are so inclined, get going — the six-month pilot program, underwritten by Tampa, St. Petersburg and Pinellas and Hillsborough counties, ends Sunday.
It was one interesting experiment.
An intriguing one, even.
I took the maiden voyage in November, packed in with a bunch of politicians, boosters and business types. I'm pretty sure HMS Ferries paid extra for the perfect weather.
But seriously: The ease of the ride, the comfort of the boat, the charming views of each city and the waters in between — it's the real deal. You could easily imagine people tapping away on their laptops on the way to work someday, on-the-water partying before a Rays or Lightning game, just enjoying the birds and the clouds. You could drink hot chocolate or a Green Bench beer. You could bring your bike.
Most important: You were one fewer car.
Rick Kriseman, St. Petersburg mayor and big ferry fan, reported earlier this month that ridership hit more than 36,000. Already, Hillsborough commissioners are looking for money in next year's budget to contribute to a seasonal ferry service.
Kriseman's Tampa mayoral counterpart, Bob Buckhorn, has sounded more measured, saying the service can't be subsidized by government forever and eventually must float on its own. Both mayors are right.
It's pretty great, and it needs to find ways to support itself.
Key points going forward?
Ten bucks a ride is too much for any kind of real commuter option, less problematic if the ferry is for fun. The pilot project featured free ride days and tickets slashed to a more reasonable $5. And hey, nothing wrong with a recreational option if people use it enough. We do like our recreation around here, and also our water — not to mention the dollars they tend to bring in.
Frequency — as in, enough ride times offered to be able to get there and back when you want to — is also a big consideration, along with transportation options once we get off the boat.
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Explore all your optionsNo question about it. The ferry turned heads. And for the right reasons.
And if it works, regular ferry service could be but one small jigsaw piece in a regional transportation puzzle roughly the size of an I-275 billboard.
You know, one you have plenty of time to memorize when you're stuck in traffic.
Contact Sue Carlton at carlton@tampabay.com.