Transportation

Air Travel

  • Tampa International Airport is just seven miles west of downtown Tampa. Long recognized as “America’s Favorite Airport,” Tampa International is an award-winning airport consistently voted one of the best in the world. On an average day, the airport is home to more than 100,000 visitors. Tampa International Airport offers 273 daily nonstop scheduled departures to 68 domestic destinations and 42 weekly nonstop scheduled departures to five international markets. The efficient layout of the airport eliminates hassles and delays, ensuring swift and comfortable movement for passengers.

 

Tampa International also has a network of smaller airports, including:

 

  • Peter O. Knight airport is only 5 minutes from Tampa’s downtown business district, museums, convention center and many local attractions. The airport, strategically located on beautiful Davis Islands, is across from the Seaplane Basin Park on Tampa Bay and The Port of Tampa cruise ship terminals.
  • The Tampa Executive Airport is only 15 minutes from Tampa’s downtown and is strategically located near the I-4/I-75 corridor. Tampa Executive Airport serves the diverse needs of the flying public combining first-class facilities for both the business and leisure aviator.
  • The Plant City Airport serves both the leisure and corporate airport patron in eastern Hillsborough County. The airport is strategically located near Interstate 4 allowing for easy driving access to a variety of other travel destinations such as, Clearwater-St. Petersburg’s beaches and Orlando’s theme parks.
  • The St. Petersburg-Clearwater International Airport is Tampa Bay’s second largest airport. It is located on the west shoreline of Tampa Bay, north of St. Petersburg, and is the birthplace of commercial air transportation. Barely a decade after the Wright brothers’ pioneer flight at Kitty Hawk, the first ticket for air travel was sold by the St. Petersburg-Tampa Airboat Line to a fare-paying passenger.  The St. Petersburg-Clearwater International Airport is a 2,000 acre fully certified facility with a 9,730-foot runway and two 5,500-foot runways. It is home of the busiest Coast Guard Air Station in the world.
  • The Albert Whitted Airport is owned and operated by the City of St. Petersburg, providing convenient commercial and private access by air to the city’s downtown waterfront, business district and urban communities. The Airport is located just blocks away from hotels, restaurants, museums, shopping and more. The 110-acre facility handles approximately 80,000 general aviation aircraft operations annually and is the home base to an estimated 185 aircraft.

Other transportation

  • Tampa Bay & Company offers a comprehensive menu of motor coach, limo & taxi services, streetcar & trolley, shuttle systems and rental cars for visitors on the move in Tampa. Similarly, strong networks of intrastate roadways also keep the area well connected. I-75 and I-275 travel north-south; I-75 travels around Tampa while I-275 travels through the city and over the Bay, through St. Petersburg and into Manatee County. Both connect to I-4, which travels east-west, connecting Tampa to Orlando and the east coast of Florida.
  • Hillsborough Area Regional Transit Authority (HART) provides bus service throughout Hillsborough County, operating almost 200 buses on 27 routes and 12 express routes. Route 30 provides direct service from Tampa International Airport to downtown Tampa, seven days a week. Nine historic streetcars run on a 2.7-mile line to make up the TECO Line Streetcar System (link to:  www.teocolinestreetcar.org), which connects residents and visitors to downtown Tampa, Convention Center, Tampa Bay Times Forum, Channelside and Ybor City. To complement streetcar service, the In-Town Trolley line operates on a high- frequency in downtown Tampa weekdays during morning and evening rush times (see below). In addition, HARTFlex in five zones (Brandon, Northdale, South County, South Tampa and Town ‘N Country) provides customized curbside pickup and drop-off. All HART buses, vans and streetcars are wheelchair accessible in accordance with requirements governed by the Americans with Disabilities Act.
  • The In-Town Trolley, a rubber-tired trolley, connects downtown hotels to the Tampa Convention Center and the TECO Line Streetcar System. It operates during rush times on weekdays and provides an additional connection between downtown and local dining, shopping and entertainment destinations. Riders can make convenient connections between the rubber-wheeled trolley and the electric streetcar trolley, allowing vehicle-free travel to historic Ybor City and numerous other attractions.
  • The Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority (or PSTA) provides bus services throughout Pinellas County and connects into Hillsborough County. PSTA manages 191 transit vehicles on 38 routes (including two express routes to Tampa) with 5,368 bus stops.  Annually, PSTA travels 8.7 million miles with 12.2 million passengers, which is an average of 43,528 people every weekday!

For more information on Tampa systems, visit the In-Town Trolley Routes & TECO Line Streetcar System online.
For more information on Pinellas County systems, visit the Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority map online.