More than a million of your tax dollars helped make the Cross Bay Ferry possible. The people behind it say the pilot program was a success, even though there's no way they'll make that much money.
Wednesday morning, more than two dozen people enjoyed a trip across the bay on to St. Petersburg on the Cross Bay Ferry. Not bad for a weekday.
While the ferry hasn't been good for commuters because of the limited schedule, the so-called Ferry Godfather, consultant Ed Turanchik, says he considers the entire project a win.
"I think honestly if you had more service, you'd have more revenue because just having one boat go back and forth limits what you can do. "
Here's the breakdown financially:
Hillsborough and Pinellas counties, Tampa and St. Pete all chipped in $350,000 to set up the ferry. The first $150,000 in ticket sales went to the management company. That was paid by the end of January. After that, any money made starts paying back taxpayers.
Turanchik says that's how transportation works.
"Most local transit systems cover between 10 and 20 percent. We think we're going to be above 40 percent. So as transit goes, this has been really successful financially."
Brian Richeson with the Tampa Bay Rays is excited about the partnership.
"As long as the boat is here, you show your ferry ticket at the Rays Tropicana Field box office and receive $10 off a ticket for the month of April. We're very proud of that and very excited to offer that out to our fans."
But it all ends on April 30th when the ferry goes back up north. What remains to be seen is if the local governments believe it was worth the investment enough, to bring it back in the fall.
Another win this project has given Hillsborough County leaders the information they need to move forward with commuter ferry service from south county to MacDill. That could be in place within three years.
