Transportation obviously plays a key role in protection of the city’s fragile environment. From Vision 2020, “St. Petersburg will have a livable balance of connected transportation options for all of its citizens. Pedestrian and bicycle facilities shall be designed, encouraged and celebrated as indicators of a healthy city. Public transit shall be sensitive to the context of neighborhoods and integrated into future economic and development plans.”

St. Petersburg is sensitive to the transportation challenges presented by its growing metropolitan area and has been exploring responsible changes to its transport systems in a variety of creative ways. The city has rewritten land development regulations to better integrate land use and transportation to ensure environmental protections and to provide more efficient transport for area residents and visitors. It also provides incentive for “smart urban design,” where higher density is allowed in mixed use residential corridors to encourage walkable communities.

The city completed work on a bicycle and pedestrian master plan to vastly improve the city for cyclists and walkers. St. Petersburg is on its way to becoming the city with the most miles of bicycle and pedestrian trails in the southeastern United States. Mayor Rick Baker created the CityTrails initiative to improve pedestrian and bicycle safety; to promote a healthier quality of life for its residents; to provide increased recreational opportunities; and to promote a healthier environment that is less dependent on fossil fuels. To view the CityTrails Bike Map please go to http://www.stpete.org/bicycle/.  Here are some of the accomplishments of the program:

·        The city has recently completed a total of 50 miles of bike lanes, with 93 miles of lanes
         to be built by 2008.   

·        The network of city bicycle trails will link to the Pinellas Trail, one of the longest
         linear bicycle trails in the United States. Through a new federal grant, the Pinellas
         Trail, which now ends on 34th St. S. by Gibbs High School, will be extended 2.1 miles
         to downtown St. Petersburg, including a pass through Tropicana Field and into
         downtown. From downtown, the future North Bay Trail will also lead cyclists north
         along the downtown waterfront, through northeast St. Pete and the Weedon Island
         Area to the Pinellas/Hillsborough Friendship Trailbridge.

·        St. Petersburg received a “permission to experiment” from the Federal Highway
         Administration to test the effectiveness of a green bicycle lane (painted on
         the pavement) in a high volume, right-turn intersection.

·        The city was one of only four Florida communities to be recognized by the League of
         American Bicyclists as “a Bicycle Friendly Community.”

In the city’s downtown area, the Looper Trolley links St. Petersburg’s cultural facilities, shopping/entertainment areas, and hotels, and also serves as a fringe parking/shuttle service for commuters, reducing the demand for parking in the downtown core. Transportation from downtown St. Petersburg to the Pinellas Beaches is served the Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority (PSTA) Suncoast Beach Trolley. The PSTA also operates a southern county hub from its new inter-modal terminal in the Central Plaza area of St. Petersburg, which can accommodate up to 12 buses or trolleys at one time and currently serves 13 PSTA routes. The attractive terminal is landscaped with drought resistant shrubs and ground covers as well as canopy trees for shade. A childcare shuttle now operates from the terminal providing service to several daycare centers within a three-mile radius.