July 10, 2026 • 17 mins
Brad Miller is the Chief Executive Officer of the Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority (PSTA), the regional transit authority serving the Tampa Bay region on the west coast of Florida with more than 300 buses and 920 dedicated employees. Hear more about how PSTA impacts the greater Tampa Bay area daily.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Time now for our CEOs you should know here on
the Ryan Gorman Show, and we're joined by Brad Miller,
CEO of the Panels Souncoast Transit Authority. You can learn
more of course at PSTA dot net bred. It's so
great to have you in here. We have a lot
to discuss. Let me just start though, with an overview
of what your agency is responsible for.
Speaker 2 (00:22):
Oh, thank you Earn for having me. Yes so, PSTA.
We are the transit authority for Panellas County, but our
services spread throughout the whole Tampa Bay region. We operate
all of the public transportation in Penelas, all of the
buses that you see on the road, all of the
trolleys that go up and down the beach that are
(00:44):
very very popular, especially during spring break. And now we
serve a wide variety of micro transit things we call
them that are a lot very helpful for people with
disabilities throughout getting transportation for people with disabilities. And then
now we're very excited to get into the waterborne arena
with ferries. We have a ferry operating in clear Water
(01:07):
that goes in Clearwater and then up to dun Eden.
And then now we're working really hard on getting the
Tampa Bay Ferry going again between Saint Pete and Tampa.
Speaker 1 (01:15):
So let's start with the buses. Tell us about how
that works and how many you're operating right now, how
much they're used, because we talk about transportation and transit
issues in the Tampa Bay area, and I think sometimes
people don't realize how many services are available for them
(01:37):
for a variety of different reasons that you may just
haven't used them yet.
Speaker 2 (01:40):
Right, You're exactly right. I mean we always are. Most
of our ridership will be on just the regular bus service.
You know, we have bus service throughout Paneas County. We've
got some premium transit because some very very popular our
highest ridership or routes are our sun Runner, a bus
(02:01):
rapid transit that goes in Saint Petersburg between downtown Saint
Pete and the beaches that goes right by traffic cana Field.
So I mean a lot of Rays fans use it.
That is our sort of premium level. And we added
a second line called the Spark that goes from Eckerd
College down in the very south part of Penellas County
straight up US nineteen to Central Avenue where they cannect
(02:24):
the Sunwunter. That's also starting to really gain a lot
of ridership up but it's a really developing corridor along
thirty fourth the Skyway, Marina District is really growing. But
then all throughout the county we have services that every
day thousands of people take to jobs, to school. We
have a great partnership with Penalace County Schools where all
(02:46):
of the school kids can use their student ID to
ride the public transit buses. Include in addition to the
yellow buses that they ride to school, they might have
an after school activity or a job they have to
get to. You can use public cancer for that. So
the bus system is we own ourselves about two hundred
and twenty of the large buses and then about forty
(03:11):
five of those trolley buses that go in Saint Petersburg
and in up and down Gulf Boulevard and the beaches
that are very popular, especially during spring break. And yeah,
I mean it's we're about the fourth largest bus system
in the state of Florida, just behind some of the
systems down in South Florida.
Speaker 1 (03:30):
We're joined right now here on our CEOs. You should
know Segment on The Ryan Gorman Show by Brad Miller,
CEO of the Panela Suncoast Transit Authority. You can learn
more about all their services at PSTA dot net. What
are some of the unique challenges for our region when
it comes to bus services compared to like where you
would typically think of buses. It was just recently in
(03:53):
New York City. I lived in Chicago for a few years.
Obviously their bus systems used a lot. What are some
of the different challenges that we have here. Obviously, just
things being spread out like they are. I think that
might be one reason why some people don't use the
bust and try to drive or you know, have their
own transportation.
Speaker 2 (04:11):
Well, certainly, I mean the Tampa Bay Region is a
very large region. It's very spread out. We've got, you know,
a very large body of water that the buses of
course need to use the bridges to get over. But
we have those services too. We have very good ridership
for a community our size with our system. The fact
(04:33):
of the matter is though that the Tampa Bay Region
has just been has We're some of the lowest funded
transit service systems in the country. The Tampa Bay Region
has just not really invested very substantially in the transit
that you see in New York or Chicago or those
kinds of places. So we do the best we can
(04:53):
with our service. We're one of the most efficient systems
and that allows us to provide such a real bus,
bus network and trolley network. But yeah, we're doing what
we can. I mean, we're still growing, we're expanding it.
Speaker 1 (05:09):
And it's essential for some of the people who are
riding it. I mean this is how they get to
and from work and school and things like that. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (05:17):
Well, and certainly like our micro trans that we were,
we always try to be as innovative as we can,
and so we have a great partnerships with Uber and
Lyft where we're carrying people with disabilities and others that
really can't drive a car themselves, so they need some
other kind of transportation if they're going to become employed
or go to activities, and so they're taking advantage of
(05:39):
PSAA services that we provide to live their life. And
a lot of people really rely on us. And then
in addition, a lot of people just take us, maybe
only for special events like getting downtown sat Bete. They'll
take the sun Run or to the Rays game or
to the to the beach.
Speaker 1 (05:55):
Uh.
Speaker 2 (05:55):
Yeah, and then now we think with ferry service, that's
even another amenity a tour are sand locals will will
certainly enjoy and take.
Speaker 1 (06:03):
Tell us about that expansion of the ferry service, the
cross Ferry ferry from Saint Pete to Tampa and the
other ferry services that you have.
Speaker 2 (06:11):
Yeah, so we have been operating now for a little
bit over a year the Clearwater Ferry in Clearwater, which
is like a smaller vessel. It's like a little water
taxi and it just goes from Coachman Park there and
downtown Clearwater, sort of a traffic reliever to get to
the beach exactly.
Speaker 1 (06:28):
This is a better way to get real you know
what that traffic can be like at the beach exactly.
Speaker 2 (06:32):
And then plus parking there's there are always no parking
at the beach. So the ferry is a great option.
If you want to go to the beach one day,
you can you can drive and park down there at
Coachman Park and then take the ferry. It's it's five
dollars just to get over to the beach and then it's.
Speaker 1 (06:47):
A nice you know view, it's a nice relaxing ride,
you're on the water.
Speaker 2 (06:51):
It's it's an experience exactly. I say it's it's the
only public transportation that we know of where they you
can stop and see a dolphin, right and then we
have the ferry also goes up to Dunedin about five
miles up up the Inner Coastal Waterway to downtown dun
Edon and that's a beautiful little walkable downtown if you
(07:12):
haven't been there, that you can access on the ferry.
That is our that's actually more popular that those ferries
are packed going up and down to especially on the weekends,
people from even going down to the Clearwater Sound and
going to concerts and things. It's very popular. Now switching
to the Tampa Bay, there was a service that was
(07:36):
operating up until the pandemic called the Cross Bay Ferry,
and it was it was a it was a good service.
It was very popular, but it was only seasonal. The
boat that they were using was on loan from the
Boston area and then every year go back there during
the summertime, and so the service only operated about six
(07:58):
or eight months a year. In Tampa. About a year
ago we were contacted about seeing if we could see
if we could take advantage there was a grant that
was available for ferry boats and maybe we could get
the Tampa the service going again. And we have been
successful at that. We now own two ferry vessels that
(08:21):
we've purchased, larger ferry vessels, more like the one that
was here before, one hundred and fifty passengers. One is
being operated as a ferry in San Francisco and one
is being operated as a private vessel up in the
Seattle area. We are now the owner of these two
fine vessels, and.
Speaker 1 (08:41):
I think you're what fixing them up a little bit
right now, and then they're going to be ready to
go exactly.
Speaker 2 (08:45):
Well, the first thing is to get them here to Florida.
And the way they come from the West coast to
Florida is they are loaded onto another vessel that goes
to the Panama Canal and then up to it's actually
they're going to go to Fort Lauderdale where they are
going to be furbished and uh, you know, set up
for operation in the Tampa Bay. Then that that should
(09:07):
happen next month that they they make their way to
the Panama Canal. So then yeah, then they'll be here
at the end of the summer and then come to
the Tampa Bay ready to go, and then we should
be able to operate start the service up this fall,
and then that will be.
Speaker 1 (09:21):
Where are they gonna go the what's the route going
to be?
Speaker 2 (09:24):
Yeah, it's going to be. We're very excited about this
because this will be a much more sustainable, regular service.
It will operate year round, seven days a week. We
have the two vessels and they'll operate between downtown Saint
Petersburg and downtown Tampa. The spot in Saint Petersburg is
right there by the Vanoy Hotel in the Renoy Basin,
and that's where it'll launch from Saint Petersburg and it'll
(09:47):
go right sort of behind the Tampa Convention Center, right
in downtown Tampa, where easy access to the arena or
to the Convention Center or to anything in downtown Tampa
right there. And it'll operate on a much more regular
basis now that we have our own boats.
Speaker 1 (10:03):
That'll be pretty neat for people. Let's say you're in
Saint Pete and you're going to a big concert at
Benchmark International and you want to make an event out
of it, you know what I mean, Instead of driving,
you take the ferry and you know, you can grab
something eat, you go see the concert, all of that.
So again an experience. It's not just transportation that we're
(10:24):
talking about here. We're joined here on our CEOs you
should know feature on the Ryan Gorman Show by Brad Miller,
CEO of the panelas Suncoast Transit Authority. You can learn
more at PSTA dot net. Tell us about the plans
for an update to mass transit along the nineteen corridor
(10:45):
and what that will look like.
Speaker 2 (10:47):
Okay, yeah, US nineteen of course is the largest corridor,
most intense quarter Infanell's County. This is a good way
to puddy. Yes, intense, and we're consulgating requests for a
commuter bus or some kind of service. So we started
in the south south panels along US nineteen. As I mentioned,
(11:09):
we have this new premium service called the Spark and
the Spark service operates every fifteen minutes between Eckerd College
and basically Saint Petersburg, you know, the Central Avenue on
Saint Petersburg. So that that that is a very growing
area of US nineteen and it's seeing ridership up to
(11:29):
a thousand riders a day writing students from Ekker, but
also workers at all the new businesses and things that
are going there. Then moving north, we do have service
all up and down US nineteen that is very very
popular service. A lot of workers use that to go
to different jobs. But we are working with Ford Panellas
on a plan to have a similar kind of Spark
(11:52):
like service that would go all the way up US
nineteen through Clearwater, through Dunedin, all the way up to
Pasco County and they connect to the system up there.
So yeah, I mean that is one of our major
quarters that we're looking at trying to expand transit.
Speaker 1 (12:07):
And is that where the coordination between your agency and
other communities other counties in the area comes into play
when you're trying to put these plans together to link
one system to the next.
Speaker 2 (12:21):
Oh yes, I mean none of these things that we're
talking about today could be done without great partners helping
PSDA out. I mean, we ourselves are you know, have
only a set amount of funding and then we are
able to partner with and launch things like the ferry
(12:42):
through partnerships with Saint Petersburg and Tampa. City of Tampa
is a great support of us. There the Florida DOT
has always been a great supporter and providing service. We
are launching a service to Tampa International Airport for the
first time from Saint Petersburg, taking advantage of the Florida
Dot's recently completed lanes on the Howard Franklin Bridge. So
(13:04):
now the bus can use those lanes and bypass the
traffic and get to the airport. This will be the
first time we've ever had a service from Saint Pete
to the airport in our history, and so we're very
proud of that. That'll start this fall as well.
Speaker 1 (13:18):
So another thing I wanted to ask you about gas prices.
Obviously they've been elevated for a while.
Speaker 2 (13:25):
Now.
Speaker 1 (13:25):
Do you find that fluctuations in gas prices and things
like that, does that impact ridership and how you operate things?
Speaker 2 (13:34):
Oh? Yeah, I mean it's sort of the mixed blessing.
You know. It certainly increases the ridership and people look
to us as a way to save money, save money
on getting around. But then in addition, you know, a
lot of our buses run on fuel as well. Lots
are going up. Thankfully, we have invested in about a
(13:55):
third of our fleet is battery electric powered and that
those are those busses have been operating grade they're much
They're saving us a lot of money, especially right now
with diesel fuel prices being high. But yeah, we want
to be there for UH in times when the gas
prices go up for people as an alternative transportation option
that they can take advantage of and save money.
Speaker 1 (14:18):
This is our CEOs You Should Know feature here on
the Ryan Gorman Show. I'm joined by Brad Miller, CEO
of the PANELOS Suncost Transit Authority. You can learn more
at PSTA dot net. Last thing, I want to talk
about technology. How is that the emergence of AI, all
of those different kinds of things. How are they impacting
(14:39):
the work that you do? If at all?
Speaker 2 (14:41):
Oh? Yeah, oh, technology is affecting all all parts of
transportation all the time. First, on our on our services
we operate, we now have, for the first time in
my career, we have digital screens on all the buses
that show you the next stops that are coming up.
With that you can and see when your stop is
(15:01):
coming up. We have apps where you can get your
destination and go where you need to go. We are
investing in AI now when you call us uh for
or for information and ride. Sometimes sometimes people don't even
know they're talking to a computer because they're talking to
an AI customer service agent, and that that is saving
(15:21):
us some money. So yeah, I mean there's of course,
we were very invested with connecting with Uber and Lyft
and and making those those options available. Like we have
a we have a airport shuttle from the same Peak
Clearwater Airport to Clearwater Beach called the Grouper and that
that has its own app, and you can if you
(15:42):
are flying on Allegiance to same peaklater airport or going
to uh uh somewhere else on Allegiant, you can get
get the group app and you can hal your ride
and you might be in an Uber or Lyft or
maybe if there's a group of you then then we'll
have a shuttle bus.
Speaker 1 (15:57):
So do you use any of that at all to
take a look at the roots and efficiency and things
like that. I don't know if that's part of it
yet or you know, if it has been well.
Speaker 2 (16:10):
You have more and more of our analysis. I mean, yes,
we're we're looking at the routes all the time to
see what where we can make changes, make improvements. But
a lot of that is being affected by technology too.
Now now we have real time information on the writership
and where people are going and how they're paying, what
(16:30):
what what they what time they're paying. Maybe we can
tell if they're going to an event or if they're
going to work. That that that technology has all come
to us and it's very beneficial as well.
Speaker 1 (16:43):
All right, before we wrap up anything that anything else,
anyone should know who's listening right now about the work
you do at the Penela Suncoast Transit Authority or the
services you provide, anything else you want to get out there.
Speaker 2 (16:56):
Well, I think just the fact that we are a
public agency. I report to a board of director of
appointed election officials in Penellas County. Same thing, same thing
in transit systems across the state of Florida. I think
a lot of us are also affected by this proposed
ballot initiative that is on the ballot Tex Amendment, the
proper Tex Amendment, that will that will affect us, and uh,
(17:19):
we will. We would have to reduce a lot of
our services. Hopefully we can keep as much of it
going as we possibly can. But yes, we're all we're
all paying attention to what's going on with that as well.
But we really want to provide the best service we can.
We can provide it in the most efficient way we can.
Speaker 1 (17:35):
Our CEOs you should know feature here on the Ryan
Gorman Show, Brad Miller, CEO of the Panela Suncoast Transit Authority.
Again you can learn more about all of their services,
everything they have to offer at p s t A
dot net. Brad, want to thank you so much for
coming in and for the time. Really appreciate it.
Speaker 2 (17:51):
Awesome. Thank you very much.
Time now for our CEOs you should know here on
the Ryan Gorman Show, and we're joined by Brad Miller,
CEO of the Panels Souncoast Transit Authority. You can learn
more of course at PSTA dot net bred. It's so
great to have you in here. We have a lot
to discuss. Let me just start though, with an overview
of what your agency is responsible for.
Speaker 2 (00:22):
Oh, thank you Earn for having me. Yes so, PSTA.
We are the transit authority for Panellas County, but our
services spread throughout the whole Tampa Bay region. We operate
all of the public transportation in Penelas, all of the
buses that you see on the road, all of the
trolleys that go up and down the beach that are
(00:44):
very very popular, especially during spring break. And now we
serve a wide variety of micro transit things we call
them that are a lot very helpful for people with
disabilities throughout getting transportation for people with disabilities. And then
now we're very excited to get into the waterborne arena
with ferries. We have a ferry operating in clear Water
(01:07):
that goes in Clearwater and then up to dun Eden.
And then now we're working really hard on getting the
Tampa Bay Ferry going again between Saint Pete and Tampa.
Speaker 1 (01:15):
So let's start with the buses. Tell us about how
that works and how many you're operating right now, how
much they're used, because we talk about transportation and transit
issues in the Tampa Bay area, and I think sometimes
people don't realize how many services are available for them
(01:37):
for a variety of different reasons that you may just
haven't used them yet.
Speaker 2 (01:40):
Right, You're exactly right. I mean we always are. Most
of our ridership will be on just the regular bus service.
You know, we have bus service throughout Paneas County. We've
got some premium transit because some very very popular our
highest ridership or routes are our sun Runner, a bus
(02:01):
rapid transit that goes in Saint Petersburg between downtown Saint
Pete and the beaches that goes right by traffic cana Field.
So I mean a lot of Rays fans use it.
That is our sort of premium level. And we added
a second line called the Spark that goes from Eckerd
College down in the very south part of Penellas County
straight up US nineteen to Central Avenue where they cannect
(02:24):
the Sunwunter. That's also starting to really gain a lot
of ridership up but it's a really developing corridor along
thirty fourth the Skyway, Marina District is really growing. But
then all throughout the county we have services that every
day thousands of people take to jobs, to school. We
have a great partnership with Penalace County Schools where all
(02:46):
of the school kids can use their student ID to
ride the public transit buses. Include in addition to the
yellow buses that they ride to school, they might have
an after school activity or a job they have to
get to. You can use public cancer for that. So
the bus system is we own ourselves about two hundred
and twenty of the large buses and then about forty
(03:11):
five of those trolley buses that go in Saint Petersburg
and in up and down Gulf Boulevard and the beaches
that are very popular, especially during spring break. And yeah,
I mean it's we're about the fourth largest bus system
in the state of Florida, just behind some of the
systems down in South Florida.
Speaker 1 (03:30):
We're joined right now here on our CEOs. You should
know Segment on The Ryan Gorman Show by Brad Miller,
CEO of the Panela Suncoast Transit Authority. You can learn
more about all their services at PSTA dot net. What
are some of the unique challenges for our region when
it comes to bus services compared to like where you
would typically think of buses. It was just recently in
(03:53):
New York City. I lived in Chicago for a few years.
Obviously their bus systems used a lot. What are some
of the different challenges that we have here. Obviously, just
things being spread out like they are. I think that
might be one reason why some people don't use the
bust and try to drive or you know, have their
own transportation.
Speaker 2 (04:11):
Well, certainly, I mean the Tampa Bay Region is a
very large region. It's very spread out. We've got, you know,
a very large body of water that the buses of
course need to use the bridges to get over. But
we have those services too. We have very good ridership
for a community our size with our system. The fact
(04:33):
of the matter is though that the Tampa Bay Region
has just been has We're some of the lowest funded
transit service systems in the country. The Tampa Bay Region
has just not really invested very substantially in the transit
that you see in New York or Chicago or those
kinds of places. So we do the best we can
(04:53):
with our service. We're one of the most efficient systems
and that allows us to provide such a real bus,
bus network and trolley network. But yeah, we're doing what
we can. I mean, we're still growing, we're expanding it.
Speaker 1 (05:09):
And it's essential for some of the people who are
riding it. I mean this is how they get to
and from work and school and things like that. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (05:17):
Well, and certainly like our micro trans that we were,
we always try to be as innovative as we can,
and so we have a great partnerships with Uber and
Lyft where we're carrying people with disabilities and others that
really can't drive a car themselves, so they need some
other kind of transportation if they're going to become employed
or go to activities, and so they're taking advantage of
(05:39):
PSAA services that we provide to live their life. And
a lot of people really rely on us. And then
in addition, a lot of people just take us, maybe
only for special events like getting downtown sat Bete. They'll
take the sun Run or to the Rays game or
to the to the beach.
Speaker 1 (05:55):
Uh.
Speaker 2 (05:55):
Yeah, and then now we think with ferry service, that's
even another amenity a tour are sand locals will will
certainly enjoy and take.
Speaker 1 (06:03):
Tell us about that expansion of the ferry service, the
cross Ferry ferry from Saint Pete to Tampa and the
other ferry services that you have.
Speaker 2 (06:11):
Yeah, so we have been operating now for a little
bit over a year the Clearwater Ferry in Clearwater, which
is like a smaller vessel. It's like a little water
taxi and it just goes from Coachman Park there and
downtown Clearwater, sort of a traffic reliever to get to
the beach exactly.
Speaker 1 (06:28):
This is a better way to get real you know
what that traffic can be like at the beach exactly.
Speaker 2 (06:32):
And then plus parking there's there are always no parking
at the beach. So the ferry is a great option.
If you want to go to the beach one day,
you can you can drive and park down there at
Coachman Park and then take the ferry. It's it's five
dollars just to get over to the beach and then it's.
Speaker 1 (06:47):
A nice you know view, it's a nice relaxing ride,
you're on the water.
Speaker 2 (06:51):
It's it's an experience exactly. I say it's it's the
only public transportation that we know of where they you
can stop and see a dolphin, right and then we
have the ferry also goes up to Dunedin about five
miles up up the Inner Coastal Waterway to downtown dun
Edon and that's a beautiful little walkable downtown if you
(07:12):
haven't been there, that you can access on the ferry.
That is our that's actually more popular that those ferries
are packed going up and down to especially on the weekends,
people from even going down to the Clearwater Sound and
going to concerts and things. It's very popular. Now switching
to the Tampa Bay, there was a service that was
(07:36):
operating up until the pandemic called the Cross Bay Ferry,
and it was it was a it was a good service.
It was very popular, but it was only seasonal. The
boat that they were using was on loan from the
Boston area and then every year go back there during
the summertime, and so the service only operated about six
(07:58):
or eight months a year. In Tampa. About a year
ago we were contacted about seeing if we could see
if we could take advantage there was a grant that
was available for ferry boats and maybe we could get
the Tampa the service going again. And we have been
successful at that. We now own two ferry vessels that
(08:21):
we've purchased, larger ferry vessels, more like the one that
was here before, one hundred and fifty passengers. One is
being operated as a ferry in San Francisco and one
is being operated as a private vessel up in the
Seattle area. We are now the owner of these two
fine vessels, and.
Speaker 1 (08:41):
I think you're what fixing them up a little bit
right now, and then they're going to be ready to
go exactly.
Speaker 2 (08:45):
Well, the first thing is to get them here to Florida.
And the way they come from the West coast to
Florida is they are loaded onto another vessel that goes
to the Panama Canal and then up to it's actually
they're going to go to Fort Lauderdale where they are
going to be furbished and uh, you know, set up
for operation in the Tampa Bay. Then that that should
(09:07):
happen next month that they they make their way to
the Panama Canal. So then yeah, then they'll be here
at the end of the summer and then come to
the Tampa Bay ready to go, and then we should
be able to operate start the service up this fall,
and then that will be.
Speaker 1 (09:21):
Where are they gonna go the what's the route going
to be?
Speaker 2 (09:24):
Yeah, it's going to be. We're very excited about this
because this will be a much more sustainable, regular service.
It will operate year round, seven days a week. We
have the two vessels and they'll operate between downtown Saint
Petersburg and downtown Tampa. The spot in Saint Petersburg is
right there by the Vanoy Hotel in the Renoy Basin,
and that's where it'll launch from Saint Petersburg and it'll
(09:47):
go right sort of behind the Tampa Convention Center, right
in downtown Tampa, where easy access to the arena or
to the Convention Center or to anything in downtown Tampa
right there. And it'll operate on a much more regular
basis now that we have our own boats.
Speaker 1 (10:03):
That'll be pretty neat for people. Let's say you're in
Saint Pete and you're going to a big concert at
Benchmark International and you want to make an event out
of it, you know what I mean, Instead of driving,
you take the ferry and you know, you can grab
something eat, you go see the concert, all of that.
So again an experience. It's not just transportation that we're
(10:24):
talking about here. We're joined here on our CEOs you
should know feature on the Ryan Gorman Show by Brad Miller,
CEO of the panelas Suncoast Transit Authority. You can learn
more at PSTA dot net. Tell us about the plans
for an update to mass transit along the nineteen corridor
(10:45):
and what that will look like.
Speaker 2 (10:47):
Okay, yeah, US nineteen of course is the largest corridor,
most intense quarter Infanell's County. This is a good way
to puddy. Yes, intense, and we're consulgating requests for a
commuter bus or some kind of service. So we started
in the south south panels along US nineteen. As I mentioned,
(11:09):
we have this new premium service called the Spark and
the Spark service operates every fifteen minutes between Eckerd College
and basically Saint Petersburg, you know, the Central Avenue on
Saint Petersburg. So that that that is a very growing
area of US nineteen and it's seeing ridership up to
(11:29):
a thousand riders a day writing students from Ekker, but
also workers at all the new businesses and things that
are going there. Then moving north, we do have service
all up and down US nineteen that is very very
popular service. A lot of workers use that to go
to different jobs. But we are working with Ford Panellas
on a plan to have a similar kind of Spark
(11:52):
like service that would go all the way up US
nineteen through Clearwater, through Dunedin, all the way up to
Pasco County and they connect to the system up there.
So yeah, I mean that is one of our major
quarters that we're looking at trying to expand transit.
Speaker 1 (12:07):
And is that where the coordination between your agency and
other communities other counties in the area comes into play
when you're trying to put these plans together to link
one system to the next.
Speaker 2 (12:21):
Oh yes, I mean none of these things that we're
talking about today could be done without great partners helping
PSDA out. I mean, we ourselves are you know, have
only a set amount of funding and then we are
able to partner with and launch things like the ferry
(12:42):
through partnerships with Saint Petersburg and Tampa. City of Tampa
is a great support of us. There the Florida DOT
has always been a great supporter and providing service. We
are launching a service to Tampa International Airport for the
first time from Saint Petersburg, taking advantage of the Florida
Dot's recently completed lanes on the Howard Franklin Bridge. So
(13:04):
now the bus can use those lanes and bypass the
traffic and get to the airport. This will be the
first time we've ever had a service from Saint Pete
to the airport in our history, and so we're very
proud of that. That'll start this fall as well.
Speaker 1 (13:18):
So another thing I wanted to ask you about gas prices.
Obviously they've been elevated for a while.
Speaker 2 (13:25):
Now.
Speaker 1 (13:25):
Do you find that fluctuations in gas prices and things
like that, does that impact ridership and how you operate things?
Speaker 2 (13:34):
Oh? Yeah, I mean it's sort of the mixed blessing.
You know. It certainly increases the ridership and people look
to us as a way to save money, save money
on getting around. But then in addition, you know, a
lot of our buses run on fuel as well. Lots
are going up. Thankfully, we have invested in about a
(13:55):
third of our fleet is battery electric powered and that
those are those busses have been operating grade they're much
They're saving us a lot of money, especially right now
with diesel fuel prices being high. But yeah, we want
to be there for UH in times when the gas
prices go up for people as an alternative transportation option
that they can take advantage of and save money.
Speaker 1 (14:18):
This is our CEOs You Should Know feature here on
the Ryan Gorman Show. I'm joined by Brad Miller, CEO
of the PANELOS Suncost Transit Authority. You can learn more
at PSTA dot net. Last thing, I want to talk
about technology. How is that the emergence of AI, all
of those different kinds of things. How are they impacting
(14:39):
the work that you do? If at all?
Speaker 2 (14:41):
Oh? Yeah, oh, technology is affecting all all parts of
transportation all the time. First, on our on our services
we operate, we now have, for the first time in
my career, we have digital screens on all the buses
that show you the next stops that are coming up.
With that you can and see when your stop is
(15:01):
coming up. We have apps where you can get your
destination and go where you need to go. We are
investing in AI now when you call us uh for
or for information and ride. Sometimes sometimes people don't even
know they're talking to a computer because they're talking to
an AI customer service agent, and that that is saving
(15:21):
us some money. So yeah, I mean there's of course,
we were very invested with connecting with Uber and Lyft
and and making those those options available. Like we have
a we have a airport shuttle from the same Peak
Clearwater Airport to Clearwater Beach called the Grouper and that
that has its own app, and you can if you
(15:42):
are flying on Allegiance to same peaklater airport or going
to uh uh somewhere else on Allegiant, you can get
get the group app and you can hal your ride
and you might be in an Uber or Lyft or
maybe if there's a group of you then then we'll
have a shuttle bus.
Speaker 1 (15:57):
So do you use any of that at all to
take a look at the roots and efficiency and things
like that. I don't know if that's part of it
yet or you know, if it has been well.
Speaker 2 (16:10):
You have more and more of our analysis. I mean, yes,
we're we're looking at the routes all the time to
see what where we can make changes, make improvements. But
a lot of that is being affected by technology too.
Now now we have real time information on the writership
and where people are going and how they're paying, what
(16:30):
what what they what time they're paying. Maybe we can
tell if they're going to an event or if they're
going to work. That that that technology has all come
to us and it's very beneficial as well.
Speaker 1 (16:43):
All right, before we wrap up anything that anything else,
anyone should know who's listening right now about the work
you do at the Penela Suncoast Transit Authority or the
services you provide, anything else you want to get out there.
Speaker 2 (16:56):
Well, I think just the fact that we are a
public agency. I report to a board of director of
appointed election officials in Penellas County. Same thing, same thing
in transit systems across the state of Florida. I think
a lot of us are also affected by this proposed
ballot initiative that is on the ballot Tex Amendment, the
proper Tex Amendment, that will that will affect us, and uh,
(17:19):
we will. We would have to reduce a lot of
our services. Hopefully we can keep as much of it
going as we possibly can. But yes, we're all we're
all paying attention to what's going on with that as well.
But we really want to provide the best service we can.
We can provide it in the most efficient way we can.
Speaker 1 (17:35):
Our CEOs you should know feature here on the Ryan
Gorman Show, Brad Miller, CEO of the Panela Suncoast Transit Authority.
Again you can learn more about all of their services,
everything they have to offer at p s t A
dot net. Brad, want to thank you so much for
coming in and for the time. Really appreciate it.
Speaker 2 (17:51):
Awesome. Thank you very much.
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