The Central West Coast of Florida is centered on the Tampa Bay metropolitan area. However, the region’s boundaries are loosely defined and the Tampa Bay Area Regional Transportation Authority (TBARTA), which was founded in 2007, covers agencies in Hernando, Hillsborough, Manatee, Pasco, and Pinellas Counties. Although TBARTA does not directly operate any transit service, it does guide regional transportation policy for the area.
Tampa Bay is the largest city in the area, and is currently served by Hillsborough Area Regional Transit (HART), the largest transit operator in the area. It operates buses in Tampa Bay including the MetroRapid bus rapid transit line and also the TECO Line Streetcar System, a vintage streetcar route between Downtown Tampa and Ybor City. The streetcar system serving Tampa and Saint Petersburg was the last operational streetcar in Florida; streetcars served Tampa from 1892 through 1946. Saint Petersburg, the region’s second largest city, is served by Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority (PSTA). Starting in 2004, HART and PSTA began honoring each other’s fare media, to further connectivity throughout the region. To the north of Tampa, Pasco County is served by Pasco County Public Transportation (PCPT), Hernando County is served by TheBus, and Citrus County is served by Citrus County Transit (CCT). To the south of Tampa, Manatee County is served by Manatee County Area Transit (MCAT). There are multiple locations at which transfers can be made between these agencies. In total, there are nearly 500 buses serving 9,000 transit stops and 28 million passengers annually among these agencies.
Sarasota County is not a part of the Tampa Bay Area Regional Transportation Authority (TBARTA), but it does have a bus system of its own that interacts with MCAT. Sarasota County is served by Sarasota County Area Transit (SCAT). SCAT and MCAT jointly operate one route that connects Bradenton to Sarasota.
Hillsborough Area Regional Transit (HART) provides fixed-route local and express bus service, flex-demand service in three zones (HARTflex), and one bus rapid transit route (MetroRapid). HART was created in October of 1979 and began operations in 1980. The fleet consists of 169 buses as of June 2020, all of which are manufactured by Gillig. All bus orders since 2015 have been for CNG powered vehicles.
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The TECO Line Streetcar System is a heritage streetcar route connecting Downtown Tampa to Ybor City along a 2.7 mile long route with 11 stations. The service is owned by the City of Tampa, operated by HART, and managed by the Tampa Historic Streetcar organization. Streetcar service in Tampa began in 1892 and carried nearly 24 million passengers in 1926, the peak ridership level for the system. The streetcars were replaced by buses in 1946. The Tampa & Ybor City Street Railway Society began to advocate for the return of streetcar service starting in 1984, and the TECO Line Streetcar began service in October of 2002. The line is primarily served by nine replica streetcars manufactured by the Comaco Trolley Company in Ida Grove, Iowa that are based on the design of the Birney Safety streetcars used in Tampa between the 1920s and 1946. There is also a single "Breezer" open air car, similar to those the 50 of this type that operated in Tampa during the 1910s, that was built by Gomaco in 1984 and a Birney trolley car that operated in Tampa from 1923 until 1946, was salvaged from a backyard in Sulphur Springs, FL in 1991, and restored back to operating condition.
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Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority (PSTA) provides public transit service to Pinellas County on 40 routes (including two express routes to Tampa and three demand-response (flex) routes) and a fleet of 210 buses. PSTA traces its history back to the St. Petersburg Municipal Transit System (SPMTS) that was founded in 1903 with a single streetcar line between Saint Petersburg and Gulfport (then known as Disston City) that had the distinction of being the southernmost streetcar system in the United States. Bus service was launched in 1919. The streetcar line was discontinued in 1949. In 1970, the Central Pinellas Transit Authority (CPTA) is founded as an independent transit authority and begins service in 1973. During the oil crises of the 1970s, SPMTS and CPTA begin to coordinate their services in order to meet higher ridership demands. The systems would formally merge and become PSTA in 1984.
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Manatee County Area Transit (MCAT) provides transit to Manatee County using a fleet of Gillig Phantom, Gillig Advantage, and Gillig Replica Trolley buses. Communities served by MCAT include Bradenton, Ellenton, and Palmetto. MCAT also operates one route jointly with Sarasota County Area Transit to Sarasota and the Skyway ConneXion route on weekdays connecting Bradenton to Pinellas County.
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Sarasota County Area Transit (SCAT) operates 38 bus routes using a fleet of Gillig Advantage buses. The system is centered around the city of Sarasota, and also serves Venice, North Port, and Longboat Key, among other places. One route that connects Sarasota to Bradenton is operated jointly with Manatee County Area Transit. SCAT was founded in 1979 when the county took over transit operations from the privately owned Cities Transit.
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