founded 1984 headquarters 3201 scherer drive st. petersburg florida locale pinellas county florida service area pinellas county service type bus service alliance pinellas county government routes 37 1 stops 5 109 fleet 203 1 daily ridership 14.5 million annually fuel type diesel hybrid electric chief executive brad miller website psta.net the pinellas suncoast transit authority psta provides public transportation for pinellas county florida . the authority manages a bus system that encompasses 40 including 2 express routes to hillsborough county and the suncoast 2 beach trolley using all gillig made buses and trolley replicas . contents 1 history 2 fares 3 bus routes 3.1 local 3.2 express services 3.3 suncoast beach trolley 3.4 north county connector 4 connection to pcpt 5 active fleet 5.1 transit buses 5.2 retired fleet 6 references 7 external links history edit psta began in the early 1900s as the st. petersburg municipal transit system spmts . the system began with a streetcar line to gulfport and eight buses to run several routes throughout the st. pete area . by 1928 ridership on the system hit 4.2 million . in 1949 the gulfport streetcar system was closed marking the end of streetcar service in pinellas county . meanwhile transit service elsewhere continued to expand . in 1970 the central pinellas transit authority cpta was formed serving the clearwater area and northern pinellas . the agency was fully established by 1973 and operated 9 routes with a fleet of 21 buses . the cpta saw 900 000 riders in its first year of service . in 1975 spmts begins paratransit services and both agencies continue to expand their fleet . in 1978 tourist trolley service using trolley replica buses began in downtown st. petersburg and became successful . by the 1980s the two agencies formed a cooperative agreement which allowed the expansion of routes throughout pinellas county . in october 1984 the two companies merged to create the psta . in the years following their merger psta operated nearly 80 routes with a fleet or nearly 130 buses . the agency begins installing electronic fareboxes and completed its central pinellas operations center as well as several bus terminals . in 1990 psta obtained its first express route previously operated by hillsborough area regional transit hart . also in 1990 psta established a cross county bus route via us 19 . massive expansion and improvements took place during the 1990s and well into the 2000s . psta constructed its williams park terminal in downtown st. pete in 1994 . in 1996 the agency introduced electronic fare cards called go cards and began replacing their outdated bus fleets with a combination of new flyer and gillig buses . in 2001 the suncoast beach trolley began service along the gulf coast beaches and in 2003 psta purchased a fleet of buses from motor coach industries to operate its express routes . additional capital improvements were made during the early 2000s as well including the renovation of the park street terminal . in 2001 the website psta.net debuted . in 2004 hart and psta began an intersystem passport to allow patrons from either county to use each other s bus systems without paying additional fares . a year later psta s current operations center opened near roosevelt boulevard . in 2006 psta expanded its fleet with the purchase of 48 gillig low floor buses . hart and psta agreed to honor each other s reduced fare photo permits . in 2007 psta introduced an online trip planning system . this system allowed patrons to better plan out their trip throughout the psta system . in 2009 the interface was scrapped in favor of a partnership with google which hart began partnership back in 2007 . this newest alliance allows patrons to seamlessly plan their trips on both the psta and hart systems . 2 psta entered into a memorandum of understanding mou with the tampa bay regional rt the florida department of transportation fdot and the pinellas county metropolitan planning organization mpo to conduct an alternatives analysis of transit corridors in pinellas county . the study would focus on the area between downtown clearwater gateway and downtown st. petersburg . the federal transit administration fta recognized the mou as an excellent example of inter agency cooperation.psta partnered with the mpo tbarta and pinellas county communications to carry out the region s first ever etownhall meeting on transit and the pinellas county alternatives analysis . the event was broadcast live on pcc tv and on the web and citizens were able to participate online or via telephone . it was the first time that all three technologies were combined for a town hall type of event in pinellas county . in 2010 psta added 14 diesel electric hybrid buses bringing the hybrid fleet up to a total of 24 vehicles . these vehicles are branded with the smartbus logos and are painted a sleek shade of silver.agency leaders decided that investing in the environmentally friendly and fuel saving hybrid technology was the best move for both psta and the community . as a result psta replaced 10 standard gasoline cars with new ford fusion hybrid electrics . like their hybrid bus counterparts the agency has branded its new hybrid sedans as smartcars . fares edit new fare changes went into effect on 10 11 2015 . kids under 6 ride for free with fare paying rider ; limit 3 . 3 one way cash fares psta local routes 2.25 local route student and youth fare restrictions apply 1.10 discount local 1.10 proper id required psta express routes 3 psta passes 1 day unlimited go card local and express 5 discount proper id required 2.50 7 day unlimited go card local and express 25 discount proper id required 12.50 31 day unlimited go card urides for 31 consecutive days . not valid on 100x and 300x . valid for adult student youth senior disabled with proper id id required adult student id psta senior disabled photo id hart senior disabled photo id pcpt senior disabled photo id government issued photo id showing age as of 65 years or older or medicare card . to obtain a psta senior disabled photo id present proof of age 65 years or older at a psta customer service center . reduced fare now includes adult students youth 18 and younger as well as people with disabilities and medicare cardholders . proper id required 35 20 ride go card description valid for 20 rides on the 100x and 300x express buses to tampa id required none fee 48 platinum pass description unlimited rides for 7 consecutive days for youth 18 years or younger . not valid on 100x and 300x . id required psta youth photo id hart youth photo id pasco pcpt youth photo id government issued photo id showing age of 18 years or younger or school student id . to obtain a psta youth photo id present proof of age 18 years or younger at a psta customer service center . 12.50 the passport description unlimited access on all psta and hart services for an entire calendar month id required none for use on all psta and hart bus trolley and streetcar routes . 85 bus routes edit psta operates 34 routes that traverse pinellas county and 2 express routes that connect into downtown tampa . 4 local edit no . name starting oakhurst rd at 86 terminus operates direction notes 4 4th street goodwill industries suncoast facility st. petersburg 25 way roy hanna drive st. petersburg daily frequent weekday service bi directional buses run every 20 to 30 minutes on weekdays 5 tyrone square mall via 5th ave n tyrone square mall st. petersburg williams park transit center st. petersburg daily bi directional limited sunday service 7 tyrone square mall via central plaza terminal tyrone square mall st. petersburg williams park transit center st. petersburg daily frequent weekday service bi directional 11 carillon pinellas point psta headquarters st. petersburg 25 way roy hanna drive st. petersburg weekday service only bi directional 14 palms of pasadena hospital williams park transit center st. petersburg palms of pasadena hospital south pasadena monday through saturday service only bi directional 15 gulfport williams park transit center st. petersburg gulfport casino gulfport daily bi directional 18 clearwater bay pines va medical center st. petersburg via seminole blvd tyrone square williams park transit center st. petersburg park street terminal clearwater daily frequent weekday service bi directional buses leave every 20 to 30 minutes during weekday peak hours . limited sunday service . 19 us 19 46th ave & 34th st st. petersburg huey ave & tarpon ave tarpon springs daily frequent weekday service bi directional buses leave every 20 to 30 minutes during weekday peak hours . limited sunday service . 20 pinellas point tyrone square roy hanna dr & 25 way s st. petersburg tyrone square mall st. petersburg daily bi directional limited sunday service . 22 22nd ave n northwest community center tyrone square mall and 4th & 22nd ave 22 ave n tyrone square mall st.petersburg monday thru saturday bi directional no sunday service 23 tyrone square mall via 22nd ave s gulfport williams park transit center st. petersburg tyrone square mall st. petersburg daily bi directional limited sunday service . 32 downtown st. petersburg circulator williams park transit center st. petersburg arlington ave 11th st st. petersburg monday through saturday limited service circulator one way directional loop cat central avenue trolley the pier st. petersburg 9th ave and gulf way pass a grille daily bi directional extended weekend service ; frequent weekday service 38 downtown st. pete tyrone square mall via 38th ave n williams park st. petersburg tyrone square mall st. petersburg daily bi directional 52 downtown st. pete downtown clearwater via e bay w bay dr williams park st. petersburg park street terminal clearwater daily bi directional late service on weekdays . 58 gateway mall redington gateway mall st. petersburg seminole blvd & park blvd redington shores daily bi directional 59 williams park indian rocks beach via mlk st & ulmerton rd williams park st. petersburg 1 st & 4 ave indian rocks beach daily bi directional serves the st. petersburg greyhound station . 60 mcmullen booth frontage road downtown clearwater mcmullen booth frontage road clearwater park street terminal clearwater daily bi directional 61 indian rocks beach dunedin indian rocks shopping center indian rocks palm lake village dunedin daily bi directional 62 tyrone square mall the shoppes of boot ranch tyrone square mall st. petersburg the shoppes of boot ranch palm harbor monday through saturday only bi directional 66 tarpon springs indian rocks beach tarpon springs sponge docks tarpon springs indian rocks shopping center indian rocks daily bi directional 67 downtown clearwater downtown oldsmar via sr 580 & hercules park street terminal clearwater downtown oldsmar monday through saturday only bi directional 68 tyrone square mall john s pass village john s pass village madeira beach tyrone square mall st. petersburg daily bi directional 73 tyrone square mall downtown clearwater via keene rd starkey rd park st tyrone square mall st. petersburg park street terminal clearwater monday through saturday only bi directional 74 williams park & downtown st. pete indian rocks beach via park blvd williams park st. petersburg indian rocks shopping center indian rocks daily bi directional 75 tyrone square mall gateway mall tyrone square mall st. petersburg gateway mall st. petersburg daily bi directional 76 downtown clearwater westfield countryside via belcher rd & sunset point westfield countryside clearwater park street terminal clearwater monday through saturday only bi directional 78 downtown clearwater westfield countryside via sr 580 westfield countryside clearwater park street terminal clearwater daily bi directional 79 downtown st. pete whitney rd & us 19 williams park st. petersburg whitney road clearwater daily bi directional 90 st. pete beach downtown st. pete grand central station st. petersburg st. pete beach daily bi directional peak hours only 97 49th st & carillon downtown st. pete