When the SunRunner launched almost three years ago, officials called it a breakthrough for Tampa Bay transportation.
Billed as the region’s “first rapid transit system of any kind” by Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority CEO Brad Miller, more bus routes taking over lanes on Tampa Bay roads were supposed to follow. These services could cut transit travel times while light rail remains a distant dream.
But now the SunRunner could lose part of a dedicated lane that makes it so efficient on Pinellas County’s Pasadena Avenue, a state road. The state transportation department nixed another proposed bus lane along Pinellas’ 34th Street South. And a new ridership threshold imperils transit initiatives around Tampa Bay…