For urban planners in Florida, an ideal transportation project doesn’t just move cars on the road. It uses alternative transportation to get people to their destinations.
With Manatee County Area Transit’s free trolley system, the three cities have an ideal mode for moving people on the road up and down the 7-mile length of Anna Maria Island.
Now Anna Maria Mayor Dan Murphy is looking into a way to get tourists and others to and from the island without using the oft-crowded bridges.
Murphy announced at the March 16 meeting of the Island Transportation Planning Organization that he is looking into linking the city of Anna Maria with Pinellas County via water taxis. He told Bradenton Beach Mayor Bill Shearon and Holmes Beach Mayor Bob Johnson that he believes there are “implications” for their cities as well.
The idea floundered in the past, Murphy said. This effort is “an infant of an idea, something you cradle and keep safe because it’s not ready to go out into the world.”
Murphy’s Pinellas contact is Mark Hubbard, owner of a water-taxi service.
Michael Howe, executive director of the Sarasota/Manatee Metropolitan Planning Organization, said a consultant for the MPO studied water taxi service and found that it would be a “viable option,” including a Pinellas County component.
“This is what MPOs want to be about,” Howe said.
Bradenton Beach Mayor Bill Shearon said the three cities should work together on the project.
Murphy said he has engaged the private sector, appointing Wayne Patterson, an Anna Maria resident, to help him do a “high-level evaluation” of the project.
Murphy said he’s found businesses that are willing to participate. He expects to hear from opponents of water taxis, but he’s eager to “give it a run.”
In the past, the tenant at the city-owned Historic Anna Maria City Pier, objected to bringing more people to the pier without the addition of parking for the facility, anticipating people would park and board the taxi. The tenant also cited limited restroom facilities at the pier.
It’s too early to reveal details, Murphy said. There are a number of considerations, such as which locations would be used to pick up and drop off passengers. One idea is for a taxi to dock at the northern jetty at the inlet to Lake LaVista.
The jetty would have to be expanded to be used for such a service. Murphy said he’s working with the West Coast Inland Navigational District to have engineers come out and look at the jetties to see if they can be expanded.
Water taxi projects also get tangled up — like seaweed in a propeller — over funding obstacles.
Federal funding for water taxis has “somewhat languished,” Howe said, and there is little appetite for state and local officials to pick up the costs. Under Murphy’s plan, funding would come from federal or county governments.
According to the 2005 MPO water taxi study, which is available on its website, www.mympo.org, feasibility of such a project depends on the degree to which the private sector is brought in as an active and equal partner.
The mayors unanimously appointed Shearon to serve two years as the AMI-MPO representative to the board. The meeting was at city hall in Bradenton Beach, although the ITPO meeting site rotates to Holmes Beach in April, with Johnson serving as chair.
Howe said the MPO is looking for an island resident to serve on its Citizens Advisory Committee.
For more information on volunteering, call 941-359-5772.
Islander reporter Tal Reeve contributed to this story.
One island shuttle too soon
The Island Pearl — a 49-passenger tour boat — first came to Anna Maria Island in October 2011 from Wiscasset, Maine. It was conceived by the owner/operators, Capt. Tracey Dell and Capt. Jeff Stephens to serve the island, Longboat Key and Bradenton as the AMI Water Shuttle Service. It had been refurbished and branded for same.
According to Dell, following a multi-year pitch, struggle and turmoil to establish the service, he threw in the towel and sold his half to Stephens, allowing Dell to focus on his charter sailboat business and Stephens to run private tours on the Island Pearl.
“What killed it was lack of cooperation from the city of Anna Maria and the city pier tenant to allow docking at the pier. Without the destinations on Anna Maria Island and the area participating, the idea could not bear fruit,” Dell said.