Water wins the day

One of the biggest “what ifs” when a group of Tampa Bay area officials launched a ferry service late last year was if — and when — it would make money.

The service answered that question within four months, recently announcing that it sent operating revenue back to the government partners that originally supported the six-month pilot project. The total surpassed $50,000 in February and late January, according to Tampa attorney Ed Turanchik, an adviser to the project, the Cross-Bay Ferry.

Under the operating contract, four governments originally funded the project. Those governments are the city of St. Petersburg; the city of Tampa; Hillsborough County; and Pinellas County. Once the ferry operator covered its management costs, money from ticket sales would reverse direction and start going back to the four governments, Turanchik says.