Beach Trolley Connects St. Pete To Tarpon Springs

For years, tourists and residents have enjoyed riding the Jolley Trolley from the beaches of Pass-A-Grille in St. Petersburg to the northern tip of Clearwater Beach and points in between. They can now extend that ride even farther north to the sponge docks of Tarpon Springs.

The new route, which extends Jolley Trolley public transit service from Clearwater Beach through the downtown neighborhoods of Clearwater, Dunedin, Palm Harbor and the docks at Tarpon Springs, began on Nov. 17 and will run every weekend on Fridays and Saturdays until midnight and until 10 p.m. on Sundays.

"We have all these communities along the Alternate 19 corridor with these great downtown areas like Dunedin and Palm Harbor on up to Tarpon Springs," says R.B. Johnson, chairman of Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority's board of directors. "The idea was to link these areas together to make it easier for tourists and residents to go to these areas of concentration without worrying about getting in and out of their cars."

The route extension is financed through contributions made by the Clearwater Downtown Development Board, the municipalities of Tarpon Springs and Dunedin, Pinellas County and the Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority. Jolley Trolley fare is $2 one way.

"It's helping promote these areas," says Johnson. "It works off of itself and builds up community. It fills that transit gap on weekends, going to restaurants and bar hopping from point A to point B, and points in between. We feel like we need to have better transit in north county. This is one small step toward that end."

Writer: Missy Kavanaugh
Source: R.B. Johnson, Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority