Page 35: of Marine News Magazine (January 2019)

34 36

FERRIES

Credit: Cross Bay Ferry the ridership showed that far fewer commuters were riding man said the schedule could be modi? ed for special events.

than tourists enjoying the 50-minute ride past Harbour “We will continue to look at the times the ferry is oper-

Island, Davis Island through Hillsborough Bay, around ating at the most effective and ef? cient time, that we get

MacDill Air Force Base, then west across Tampa Bay to St. the greatest ridership and provide the greatest service. And

Pete for dining and entertainment. if we need to tweak that, we certainly will,” he said.

The ferry follows the same course and runs November He explained, “We are limited because we have only through April between the Florida Aquarium, 701 Chan- one vessel and in order to stay within budget it limits the nelside Drive, Tampa, and the dock in the North Yacht frequency it can run. Obviously the hope is that with con-

Basin at 418 Bayshore Drive N.E., between the Vinoy tinued success that we bring this back again for the next

Renaissance St. Petersburg Resort and the St. Petersburg couple years and start building toward a more permanent

History Museum. The fare was lowered from $10 to $8; year-round service that has more boats creating greater fre- with children age 5 to 18 paying $3 and children under quency and even better ride times.” 5 ride free. Discounts are available for seniors, members In that case, Kriseman said, he would anticipate con- of the military and veterans. Passengers can purchase tinuing with HMS Ferries as long as they can provide suit- snacks and beverages, including beer and wine, from an able craft. “They have certainly thus far been a really great on-board cafe. partner. This is the second year we have used them and

This year, the Monday departure and early departures they have been a great partner, they are performing exceed- were dropped in favor of a more tourists friendly Tuesday ingly well. Last time we studied to see what the satisfaction through Sunday schedule with new, late-evening runs and was. People on board were surveyed and the satisfaction four round trips on Fridays and Saturdays. Mayor Krise- was exceedingly high.” 35 www.marinelink.com MN

MN Jan19 Layout 32-49.indd 35 MN Jan19 Layout 32-49.indd 35 1/9/2019 9:56:23 AM1/9/2019 9:56:23 AM