Free STAR Shuttle Expands to the Beach Today, Adding 15 New Stops
Starting Oct. 1, St. Augustine's free STAR Circulator stretches past downtown for the first time, linking the historic district to the Alligator Farm, St. Augustine Beach City Hall and the St. Johns County Ocean Pier.
St. Augustine's free STAR Circulator shuttle starts running to the beach today. Beginning Oct. 1, the service adds 15 new stops on Anastasia Island and in St. Augustine Beach, stretching a route that has stayed downtown-only since it began into a line that now reaches the sand.
The circulator used to run a simple three-stop loop: the Downtown Visitor Information Center, the bayfront, and the Plaza de la Constitución near Flagler College. Starting today, riders can also get off at the St. Augustine Alligator Farm, St. Augustine Beach City Hall, and the Embassy Suites near the St. Johns County Ocean Pier, along with a dozen other new stops along the way.
The expansion is a joint effort between the City of St. Augustine and the City of St. Augustine Beach, built to ease the crush of cars and parked vehicles that clog the historic downtown, especially on weekends.
Beach mayor wants traffic flowing both ways
St. Augustine Beach Mayor Beth Sweeny raised the expansion at a city commission meeting this month, saying she hopes people use the new route in both directions, not just beachgoers heading downtown but downtown visitors heading to the beach.
She said the goal is to cut down on the daily scramble for a downtown parking spot and pull some cars off the road altogether, both at the beach and in the historic district.
- Service starts Oct. 1, with 15 new stops added to the existing three-stop downtown loop
- New stops include the Alligator Farm, St. Augustine Beach City Hall and the Embassy Suites near the Ocean Pier
- Hours: 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday through Thursday, 9 a.m. to 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday
- Pickups run every 30 minutes along the route, starting from the Visitor Information Center
- The ride is free, funded by an FDOT grant and operated by Old Town Trolley
How long will it stay free
The grant covers the program through the end of 2029. After that, St. Augustine and St. Augustine Beach will need to find new grant money or pay for it out of their own budgets to keep the service running at no cost to riders.
The circulator has already gotten heavier use during the Nights of Lights holiday season, when the city has temporarily added stops in past years. This expansion is different: it is permanent, year-round service, not a seasonal add-on.
Neither city has said yet whether more stops or route changes are planned once the beach loop is up and running. For now, riders looking to skip the downtown parking hunt, or the beach parking hunt, have a free option every half hour, seven days a week.
Want to keep up with how the new route is working for riders? Visit St. Augustine Community Website for continuing local coverage, or join the conversation in our Community Forum. For more on decisions shaping the city, check out our government and politics coverage and our community news section.
Header photo: Ebyabe / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)
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