All aboard to Bradenton Beach! – Anna Maria Islander

All aboard to Bradenton Beach! - Anna Maria Islander

Manatee County’s Gulf Islands Ferry made waves of the historical variety, landing Feb. 9 for the first time in Bradenton Beach.

The ferry made its inaugural landing at the Historic Bridge Street Pier at 11:30 a.m. and was welcomed by a crowd of onlookers and a ribbon-cutting ceremony hosted by the Anna Maria Island Chamber of Commerce.

The ferry program, coordinated and marketed by the Bradenton Area Convention and Visitors Bureau and operated by Gulf Coast Water Taxi of Clearwater, represents another step toward enhancing coastal connectivity between the mainland of Manatee County and Anna Maria Island.

The first passenger service between the Bradenton riverfront and the Anna Maria City Pier began last month, followed by expansion Feb. 9 to Bradenton Beach.

After cutting the ceremonial ribbon, Bradenton Beach Mayor John Chappie expressed his excitement.

“This is a momentous day,” he said. “We’re really excited about this. It’s another amenity to what is great about Bradenton Beach and our Bridge Street area. To bring people out here so they can enjoy what we get to enjoy every day.”

Terri Kinder, chamber president, said, “We’re just really excited for them to have this second stop on Anna Maria Island. It’s going to bring people out here that possibly don’t come because they don’t want to wait in the line of traffic.”

The ferry service, consisting of two 50-foot open-air catamarans named Miss Anna Maria and Downtown Duchess, is operating 10 a.m.-9 p.m. Fridays-Sundays between Bradenton and Anna Maria and Bradenton Beach — weather permitting.

Capt. Jeff Peters helmed the inaugural journey to Bradenton Beach.

“It’s our first stop here for the public and we are excited,” he said.

Passengers coming from AMCP to the Bridge Street pier can expect a 30-minute ride, while travelers between downtown Bradenton and Anna Maria can expect a 40-minute one-way trip.

Tickets are $8 per person for a one-way trip.

Each catamaran can accommodate up to 48 passengers and is staffed with two crew members, a captain and a deck hand to assist embarking and disembarking passengers at the docks.

Ferry passenger John O’Grady of Toronto served for 22 years as the chief safety officer of the Toronto Transit Commission and he applauded the county’s efforts at multimodal transit.

“I think they need more public transit like this in the area,” he said.

He pointed north to the Cortez Bridge. “Look at the bridge, it’s bumper-to-bumper,” he said. “Keep the cars off the island, park somewhere else, catch the ferry. What’s wrong with that?”

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Source: islander.org

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