Inquiries to the City of St. Pete Beach and responses to public records requests made revealed at least one nonsensical policy, and meeting minutes show that no commission votes were taken on crucial matters. In…
“We know Betty is here,” newly appointed and unelected St. Pete Beach City Commissioner Nick Filtz said during the discussion of whether to appoint someone to the vacant district 3 seat. His comment was made…
On Tuesday September 12th at around 10:35 AM , PSTA CEO Brad Miller and PSTA Board Chair Gina Driscoll greeted a rider as she stepped off a westbound Sunrunner bus. The location was the stop…
The City of St. Pete Beach is hiring! While that isn’t noteworthy in and of itself, what is noteworthy is the job description: “collect and help analyze transit usage data as a passenger on public…
In developing information for another article we are working on, we discovered that Treasure Island Mayor Tyler Payne told a citizen “It’s Mayor Payne, not Tyler” in a text message. However, Payne doesn’t address others…
Two days ago, St. Pete Beach Mayor Alan Johnson posted a graphic on his campaign Facebook page in which he falsely claimed to have received the endorsement of newly elected Pinellas County Commissioner Brian Scott.…
As the Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority (PSTA) continues to fail to meet their own ridership projections, one Pinellas County beach town has shown that transit can be provided at a much lower cost to the…
In a presentation about PSTA’s new Sunrunner bus line yesterday, PSTA’s Director of Communications & Marketing Whitney Fox said it was “really exciting to see that we are getting people out of their cars.” Fox…
Last week, we rode PSTA’s much promoted new Sunrunner bus line and documented discrepancies between what PSTA was saying and doing (article). We found serious operational deficiencies. However, the most serious problem we found on…
“The bus will leave when I’m finished cleaning,” the PSTA driver told the Tampa Bay Guardian reporter. We repeated our question: what is the scheduled departure time? “It’s hard to keep the schedule,” the driver…
President Donald Trump today announced on Twitter funding for PSTA’s controversial Central Avenue BRT project (CABRT). The project is opposed by two of the three cities it runs through. There was no news release immediately…
Formal project assessments made by the FTA (Federal Transit Administration) and obtained by the Guardian appear to show why PSTA’s Central Avenue BRT (CABRT) project is still isn’t eligible to be funded by the FTA.…
Records obtained by The Guardian show that the Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority (PSTA) is not eligible for funding of its Central Avenue Bus Rapid Transit (CABRT) project. The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) has told PSTA…
At PSTA’s Legislative Committee meeting on February 5th, PSTA’s federal lobbyist Harry Glenn spoke of a list that the FTA has. “It’s actually a list of projects…that kind of gives the Congress an expectation of…
PSTA’s Central Avenue Bus Rapid Transit (CABRT) project has received another setback. The project will not be funded in the federal FY2020 budget. That information reached PSTA in March, yet no mention of it was…
Prior to the opening of a Treasure Island “voter information open house” on Saturday, city resident Ken Weiss spoke to those gathered. City Manager Reid Silverboard told Weiss to stop disrupting the meeting, a meeting…
Only after a query from the Guardian did PSTA post its full-year ridership data on its website Monday. The data showed a decline of 10.2% in total passenger trips compared to its previous fiscal year. This…
On their website, the Suncoast Sierra Club (SSC) say they “participate in local environmental activities.” Yet the SSC, which is a local chapter of the national Sierra Club, has had nothing to say about the recent and multiple…
