ST. PETE BEACH — City commissioners on June 9 approved a one-year contract with the Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority after the agency cut the city’s cost by $87,679.
The reduction lowered the contract from $308,279 to $220,600 — the amount the city had budgeted for fiscal 2026. Assistant City Manager Adam Poirrier said the higher figure stemmed from earlier renewal terms.
Darden Rice, PSTA’s chief planning and community affairs officer and its lead on agreements with the city, said overlapping personnel changes at the agency had created confusion over who was managing the paperwork and getting the renewal signed before it expired. She said PSTA has since added project management software and a clear chain of command.
To show good faith, Rice said, PSTA would honor the $220,600 the city budgeted rather than the higher amount in the draft agreement.
“After consulting with our chief operating officer ... and our chief financial officer, we decided that we would reaffirm the fiscal year 2026 contract at the amount you budgeted, $220,600 — not the amount that’s currently on the draft in front of you,” she said.
Rice said PSTA could absorb the difference from a small budgeted surplus. “In this situation we want to be a partner, we want to be fair, we want to be flexible, and this is a delta that we can cover,” she said.
She said PSTA would return soon with projections for fiscal 2027 and walk commissioners through how it calculates the marginal cost of the Suncoast Beach Trolley, Route 90, paratransit access and Mobility on Demand service. “When we come to an agreement with that, we will have our 2027 plan, and there shouldn’t be any surprises,” Rice said.
Mayor Scott Tate thanked Rice for the offer. “We appreciate your team looking into this and making that offer,” he said.
Commissioner Jon Maldonado called the reduction “a huge gesture” and asked when PSTA could provide ridership trends from the past three to four years.
“We can get those numbers for you very easily,” Rice said.
PSTA CEO James Bradford presented ridership figures showing declines across several routes. The Central Avenue Trolley carried about 322,000 riders in 2023, 294,000 in 2024 and 279,000 in 2025; Bradford said the trolley once ran to St. Pete Beach but now ends at the Central Avenue terminal.
The Suncoast Beach Trolley drew about 575,000 riders in 2023 and 570,000 in 2024. Route 90 fell from 19,000 riders in 2023 to 13,000 in 2024 and 8,000 in 2025.
“The SunRunner is a strong performer,” Bradford said, with most boardings at Boca Ciega and Beach Access Park. The line topped 1 million riders in 2023, when rides were free, then drew about 761,000 in 2024 and 732,000 in 2025.
Commissioner Karen Marriott said some residents have questioned the combined spending on PSTA and the city’s Freebee service, contending the city is “spending too much money to drive people around who could just buy themselves an Uber, and I think there’s some validity to that.”
But she said paratransit for residents without other options is worthwhile. “I’m not one for government spending money on all kinds of programs, but if we’re going to spend money on anything, that seems like a good one,” Marriott said.
She said the contract’s future warrants a broader discussion, noting it had come late in the year. “We’re paying for things that kind of already happened,” she said.
Approving the reduced, already-budgeted amount was the right move, Marriott said, with a larger conversation about transit to follow as the city heads into the next fiscal year.
Commissioners voted unanimously to approve the amended contract.
The eighth addendum to the Suncoast Beach Trolley agreement between St. Pete Beach and PSTA renews fixed-route service for one year, including the Suncoast Beach Trolley, Route 90 commuter service and Access paratransit for city residents.
“Approval of this addendum will ensure the continued availability of public transit and mobility services for residents and visitors within the city,” city staff wrote.