Commissioner Murman quoted in this Tampa Tribune article on St. Pete/Tampa ferry:

TRANSPORTATION

Hillsborough commission backs Tampa-St. Pete ferry

By Mike Salinero | Tribune Staff

Published: January 6, 2016

Updated: January 6, 2016 at 03:13 PM

TAMPA — Hillsborough County today became the second local government to embrace a high speed ferry service between downtown Tampa and St. Petersburg.

County commissioners voted 5-1 to earmark $350,000 toward a six-day-a-week ferry between the Vinoy Basin in St. Petersburg and the Channel District in Tampa. St. Petersburg’s City Council has already approved spending $350,000 for the project. The money will come out of its settlement in the BP oil spill.

Commissioner Stacy White voted against the measure, saying Tampa and St. Petersburg should put in more money than Hillsborough and Pinellas counties. White said he’d have a hard time justifying the county’s expenditure to residents in far-eastern county areas such as Fort Lonesome.

Commissioners took the plunge after hearing a talk from St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Kriseman who is driving the ferry proposal. Kriseman said the ferry service, which will start as a six month pilot project, would accomplish a long talked-about goal of uniting the Tampa Bay area counties as one region.

“I’m here today to present an opportunity that I think will continue the trend we’re on right now, a positive one … a focus on being a regional community,” Kriseman said.

The measure still requires financial commitments from Tampa and Pinellas County. Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn said Tuesday, after meeting privately with Kriseman, that he likes what he’s heard so far about the ferry but wants to see more detail about revenues. The Pinellas County Commission has yet to discuss the project.

Commissioner Sandy Murman made the motion to approve the project. She extolled the plan as a low-cost transportation alternative that would boost the county’s profile across the country.

“This is an investment,” Murman said. “This creates another notch for Visit Tampa Bay to market this area.”