Trolley service from airport to downtown to launch later this week
Visitors flying into Sarasota can leave the rental car behind from the end of this week onward, thanks to a new airport transit initiative.
Breeze Transit will introduce a new trolley, the 76 Flyer, from the Sarasota Bradenton International Airport to downtown Sarasota on Friday. Local officials say it is part of the county’s continuing effort to bolster public transportation and enhance the tourist experience.
Two buses will run the route every half-hour from 7 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. and stop at eight downtown hotels: the Hyatt Regency, The Westin, The Ritz-Carlton, Embassy Suits, Aloft, Art Ovation, voco and The Sarasota Modern. The trolleys can hold about 30 passengers and include luggage racks, and trolley fare is $2 per passenger.
Breeze Transit Director Jane Grogg proposed the new trolleys to the County Commission last spring to relieve traffic along U.S. Route 41, she said.
“We wanted to make the trip easier for our visitors,” Grogg said. “Leave the driving to us and help take some of those individual cars off the road.”
The additions are the latest in a line of initiatives the transit service has installed in the past few years, including an on-demand bus service launched in 2021 and an app to track routes in real time. They also come at the end of the airport’s biggest year on record, with more than 4 million passengers using SRQ through 2023.
Half of Sarasota’s 3 million annual visitors arrive through SRQ and a third stay in downtown hotels. County Commissioner Mark Smith said he hopes the Flyer will provide a smoother experience for each of them.
“Breeze Transit services can significantly improve transportation concerns for visitors and our community,” Smith said. “It’s truly amazing.”
Contact Herald-Tribune Growth and Development Reporter Heather Bushman at hbushman@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter @hmb_1013.