After Complaints Of Homeless Riders, SunRunner Adopts Full Fare Oct. 1

PINELLAS COUNTY, FL — Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority officials will start charging a full fare for the SunRunner rapid transit system that connects downtown St. Petersburg and St. Pete Beach, according to multiple reports.

The service launched at the end of October with fare-free rides during its first six months of operation. In February, the PSTA announced it would extend the free fares through November.

Now, it will cost $2.25 for a regular ticket and $1.10 for those eligible for reduced fares — the same as every other PSTA bus route. Initially, the board considered a 50-cent fare just for stops west of downtown St. Petersburg.

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• SunRunner Remains Fare-Free Through November: PSTA
• SunRunner Attracts More Than 10,000 Riders During 1st Weekend

The move comes after pressure from Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri and St. Pete Beach residents who take issue from the homeless sleeping or panhandling on the SunRunner. St. Pete Beach officials also said at a recent meeting that they’ve seen a rise in crime and homeless individuals in the beach community.

"They (shoppers in St. Pete Beach) were being accosted," Pinellas Sheriff Bob Gualtieri told the PSTA, according to Fox 13. "They were being hit up. They were being harassed. We started getting complaints about people sleeping on the beach. We're getting complaints from families that this is not OK. As you're walking down the beach access and there are showers there where you can rinse off your feet when you come off the sand, and there are people there naked, urinating and defecating when they're trying to take their kids off the beach. That's not OK. So, it was a huge quality of life and public safety issue."

Gualtieri offered to place extra deputies near the SunRunner’s last stop in St. Pete Beach, costing PSTA $10,000 a week, the Tampa Bay Times reported.

Rene Flowers, a county commissioner serving on the PSTA board, made the motion for the Oct. 1 fare change.

The motion passed 12-2 with board member Vince Cocks and board chair Gina Driscoll, a St. Petersburg City Council member, voting against the measure.

Driscoll has also advocated for the SunRunner to remain free for riders past November.

“I want to address the real problem, and the real problem is not a bus,” she said. “I don’t want to punish thousands and thousands, almost a million riders, for what a small group is doing that doesn’t have good intentions or really, really needs help.”

St. Pete Mayor Ken Welch also opposes the new fare, according to St. Pete Catalyst.

“Removing barriers and ensuring that all passengers, especially those with income limitations and mobility difficulties, have equal access to SunRunner is necessary to realize the full potential of our return on investment,” he wrote in a letter to the PSTA board. “It’s a major supporter of economic development along the entire route and we are seeing more dense and affordable housing announced near stations every month.”