PSTA offering park & ride program for Clearwater Beach to help with spring break visitor influx

PSTA preparing for spring break in Pinellas

In Pinellas County, PSTA and the City of Clearwater are offering free park and ride service for Clearwater Beach through April for spring break.

CLEARWATER, Fla. - With Spring Break season upon us, The Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority (PSTA) is partnering with the city of Clearwater for a service meant to alleviate beach traffic and parking problems.

From Feb. 25 through April 27, the "park & ride" program will allow beach visitors to park in a free designated lot and then ride a trolley to the beach for free.

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These are the free parking locations:

The old City Hall lot on 112 S. Osceola Ave.
The city grass lot south of the City Hall Lot on 200 S. Osceola Ave.
The county garage near Forward Pinellas on 310 Court St. (will only be open as an additional lot on weekends only)

From Monday through Thursday, the shuttle waiting times will be every 30 minutes from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.

Waiting times on Friday through the weekend will be every 15 minutes from 10 a.m. to midnight, except for Sunday which runs until 10 p.m. From the lots, riders will be dropped off at the Clearwater Marina near Pier 60.

This is the sixth year PSTA and the city have partnered to provide more public transportation as an alternative to driving and parking at the beach.

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Officials say more than 50,000 vehicles drive through the Clearwater Beach roundabout on a typical spring break day.

For information about beach parking, click here. For information on other ways to get around, visit ClearwaterFerry.com, Uber.com, Lyft.com, and Go777Taxi.com.

Clearwater