A new transit option called the SunRunner will make beach travel easier for Pinellas County residents when it begins service in early October.
What You Need To Know
- Officials say the new SunRunner transit option will make going to the beach easier
- Experts believe that the new option will also ease traffic congestion near the beaches
- Locals say they are looking forward to riding the SunRunner for free for the first six months of service
Josh Gorsuch is a local who travels to the beach a lot. He says this new busing option could save him time and money.
He said the last time he went to the beach, his group got there later in the morning, "so we missed a lot of the craziness."
That craziness, Gorsuch says, is the traffic.
During the busiest times, cars can be seen backed up on all paths leading to the beaches. But Pinellas County transportation officials say that when the SunRunner buses begin service, the traffic situation should improve.
SunRunner vehicles will carry people out to the beach on 1st Avenue North and bring them back on 1st Avenue South. Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority CEO Brad Miller said he believes the SunRunner will solve a lot of problems in the area that commuters are constantly dealing with.
“It’ll be for the workers who work on the beach, at the restaurants and the hotels,” he said. “We think lots of them will ride it — we think people will take it from, if they’re staying in a hotel on the beach, to downtown St. Petersburg to go to a Rays baseball game or to some kind of event or restaurant in downtown St. Pete.
"We think there’s lots of ways to do it. Certainly getting to the beach on the holiday weekends or during spring break will be a big reason to ride SunRunner.”
Gorsuch lives only a few blocks away from a SunRunner stop, so it definitely has his attention.
“It’ll be much easier and less stressful — I am very excited about it,” he said. “A couple bags — Keep it simple and jump over there and not have to worry about that. Definitely much easier.”
His sister agrees.
“Just going, being there, not worry about all this stuff, it’ll be great,” Ashley Miller said.
What may be even greater is that for the first six months, riding the SunRunner will be free of charge.
“Who doesn’t like free?” Gorsuch said, laughing.