The Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority is now offering free rides to all Pinellas Technical College students and staff members.
Any PTC student or staff member will now be permitted to ride PSTA buses for free by showing their school ID.
According to PSTA, roughly 3,000 PTC students attend classes in St. Petersburg and Clearwater.
Sarah Crofoot is one of them.
After a truck she was riding in got sideswiped by a speeding car, Crofoot had to be airlifted to the hospital to be treated for her injuries, which left her immobile.
She was soon left without a means of transportation, no way to buy groceries, care for her two young children, or get to school.
“I didn’t know how I would ever get back to school,” Crowfoot said. “All I knew was that my children needed me to finish my degree.”
Soon after that, a counselor informed her about the partnership PTC was forming with the PSTA.
“It’s just amazing,” said Crofoot. “I feel like I defied fate — twice.”
St. Petersburg City Councilmember Darden Rice and PSTA CEO Brad Miller were both on-hand for this morning’s announcement ceremony.
To foot the bill, PTC will pay the PSTA a flat rate of $20,000 per year for three years. The contact will be mutually revisited and renewed each of those three contract years.
