Manatee County transit ridership rose about 4.6% for the 2025-26 fiscal year and the county’s Gulf Islands Ferry now stops at Coquina Beach, the Sarasota/Manatee Metropolitan Planning Organization board heard Sept. 28.
Those developments come as transportation planners take a broader look at how transit could evolve across Manatee and Sarasota counties.
The regional MPO is conducting a regional transit feasibility study, expected to be completed in December, to assess transit across both counties, identify barriers that limit ridership and recommend actions with cost estimates…