Electric Buses To Begin Operating In St. Pete On Sunday

ST. PETERSBURG — Riding the bus in Pinellas County will now be an electrifying experience with the addition of two electric buses to the Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority’s fleet.

This week the PSTA unveiled two electric buses that will start running Sunday, Oct. 7, in downtown St. Petersburg.

The zero-emission buses will operate along the 4.6-mile Looper route, which will be free for all riders.

Weekday service will begin at 7 a.m. and the buses will begin running at 8 a.m. on Saturday and Sunday. The
buses will carry passengers until 10 p.m. each night.

The electric buses will run the same route as the trolleys, providing service every 15 minutes.

The two $1.7 million buses are the first of six being purchased by the county with city, county, state and federal money. The four other buses are expected come online in 2019 and 2020.

Pinellas County also spent about $600,000 of its BP oil spill settlement to purchase a charging station for the buses in front of the University of South Florida St. Petersburg campus.

The city of St. Petersburg will pay about $360,000 each year to operate the electric bus service.

Image via PSTA

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