Stet News
Here’s a way to take a shot at the high cost of housing in Palm Beach County: Create an express bus service to Port St. Lucie.
Why it matters: So many people live in Port St. Lucie but work in Palm Beach County that Palm Tran is preparing to launch a twice-a-day express service between Gatlin Boulevard and downtown West Palm Beach.
Housing and population factored into the move:
- The median sales price of a home in Port St. Lucie is about $380,000. It’s more than $450,000 in Palm Beach County.
- Port St. Lucie has nearly double the population of any city in Palm Beach County, with 231,790 people. West Palm Beach has 120,932.
A 162-space parking lot for commuters, complete with six electric-car chargers, is already in place at the southeast corner of Interstate 95 and Gatlin near Bass Pro Shops.
From there it’s just a 50-mile, one-hour commute by bus. Palm Tran is looking at two runs between 5 and 8 am and two runs between 5:30 and 8:30 pm.
Cost for passengers likely would be $3 or less, a Palm Tran official told the Palm Beach Transportation Planning Agency board May 18.
Yes, but. The cost to taxpayers would be … more.
- The Florida Department of Transportation is talking about putting up $2 million to $2.5 million to buy three 50-seat coach-style buses. Yes, they would have WiFi.
- FDOT also would pay $350,000 to $400,000 a year in operating costs for the first three years.
Who would pay beyond that? Unknown. But County Commissioner Maria Marino warned that the costs should not fall solely on Palm Beach County.
Approvals are still pending but Yash Nagal, Palm Tran director of transit planning, told the TPA board that service could begin in January or February.
