The dedicated SunRunner bus lane along Pasadena Ave. will be removed. The removal was finalized by Florida Representative Linda Chaney, who cited safety concerns, traffic congestion and what she describes as an inefficient use of taxpayer assets. However, the data she used to justify the removal doesn’t align with the data collected by Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority (PSTA), creating contention.
Chaney’s decision follows her push under House Bill 1301, which requires the Florida Department of Transportation to conduct studies before any lane repurposing. Chaney said the change came after years of complaints from residents and city officials about delays and confusion along the corridor.
“It came to my attention that suddenly residents had three lanes of traffic condensed into two, causing cars to be backed up for two to three light cycles,” Chaney said. She also claimed the lanes contributed to “increased crashes, lack of access and driver confusion.”
According to Chaney’s office, an FDOT study conducted after the passage of her 2024 legislation found that crashes along Pasadena Avenue increased by 50 percent – from 36 annually between 2019 and 2021 to 54 between 2023 and 2024 – after the Bus Rapid Transit lane was installed.
The study, cited in her press release, also reported congestion in general-purpose lanes, driver confusion and access conflicts at driveways. FDOT recommended converting the lane back to a standard right-turn and general-use lane to improve safety and traffic flow while adding transit signal priority to maintain bus efficiency.
“After four years, we turned the concerns of local leaders, organizations and residents into action, delivering safer, smoother roads,” Chaney said in a statement from Oct. 21. “I appreciate the Florida Department of Transportation and everyone who worked together to improve our roadways.”
Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri also supported the decision, saying the restored lane will help reduce crashes and improve emergency response times. “Reopening South Pasadena Avenue is a critical step in reducing traffic incidents and keeping our roads safer,” Gualtieri said. “This change will hopefully cut down on crashes and also ensure our deputies and first responders can navigate quickly and effectively to protect our community.”
Chaney has said her actions were prompted by the FDOT study, but when asked to present the document publicly, she was unable. Darden Rice, PSTA’s Community Affairs Officer, said she has not seen the study either, despite requesting it.
Rice added: “The studies I see show a reduction in accidents and fatalities across the SunRunner by 40%. And I’m not talking fender benders. I’m talking serious accidents.”
Chaney’s criticism of the PSTA extends beyond safety and points to low ridership numbers and growing taxpayer costs. PSTA financial documents show that in 2024 PSTA received $76 million, a major increase from 2017 when it received $37 million. In addition, “Less than two percent of people actually ride the bus so ninety-eight percent don’t use the service,” Chaney said. “PSTA is ninety-five percent subsidized by our property tax. Instead of them building an efficient transportation network, I would assert they are building a kingdom.”
The two percent figure Chaney cited originates from the 2010 U.S. Census question, “How do you get to work?” In Pinellas County, two percent of respondents reported using public transportation. That statistic, which later appeared in the American Community Survey’s Transit Mode Share report for 2016 to 2020, only expresses weekday commuters who rode to their jobs the prior week.
According to PSTA, 56 percent of its riders are non-commuters – meaning they were not captured in the census data. The census also excludes tourists, visitors, students and children who regularly use the system. Additionally, 46 percent of PSTA riders describe themselves as “moderately, slightly or non” transit dependent and do not ride every day.
PSTA’s data furthere differs in that roughly 15 to 16 percent of Pinellas County residents use public transportation as opposed to the 2% claimed by Chaney. That estimate comes from 155,499 unique rider accounts – excluding cash fares – divided by the county’s 2024 population of 965,870.
Rice noted that while some accounts may be duplicates, she’s confident that PSTA’s data is accurate, but is open to further analysis and discussion. “At PSTA, we always take safety very seriously,” Rice said. “I would welcome the opportunity to look at Rep. Chaney’s numbers and how she reached her conclusion.”
Chaney has emphasized that her goal is not to oppose public transportation but to ensure fiscal responsibility. “I’m not against mass transit,” she said. “The liberal left is predictably in support of mass transit but don’t use it themselves. My issue is efficiency and accountability.”