Tampa Bay’s Cross-Bay Ferry stops service this month

The Cross-Bay Ferry is ending service between Tampa and St. Pete after its vendor rocked the boat with Pinellas and Hillsborough Counties.

Hillsborough County Board of Commissioners votes Wednesday to terminate its agreement with HMS Ferries, Inc. The vendor told Hillsborough County in March that it would need to pull the ship used for the Cross-Bay Ferry and replace it with one that would take two hours instead of one to cross the bay.

With no alternative option, HMS agreed to end service on April 30.

The Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority (PSTA) told Creative Loafing Tampa Bay it plans to get a new ferry afloat in the fall. The agency said it plans to send a Request for Proposal for a new ferry operator this summer.

Hillsborough County has been sitting on a $5 million federal grant to buy a new boat, which expires soon, according to the Tampa Bay Times.

This was its first season of year-round service for the ferry, which launched in 2019. For the last three years, it ran October through May. The dual-hull catamaran with a capacity of 149 passengers has carried more than 400,000 riders since 2016.

So much for more transit.

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This article appears in Apr 10-16, 2025.