While the Rays have made sure there are often reasonably priced tickets available even in this year’s smaller ballpark, you are still going to pay to park your car.
Parking right near the stadium is $55; parking by Raymond James Stadium is $30. I’ve heard a number of fans wonder how they can avoid paying as much for their car as for their game ticket.
You can get a small discount if you pre-pay parking at least a day before the game. And no doubt there are business within a mile of the stadium that are capitalizing on the Rays presence to offer parking at a lower price point (if any of our readers have any good leads on off site parking, please share in the comments).
But we’re going to suggest something radical, especially for those Tampa/Hillsborough County folks who can finally see a game without crossing those dreaded bridges.
Leave your car at home!
Next week we’ll show you how you can ride your bike to the stadium, but today we’re going to suggest you can ride the bus to the game.
HART is the public transit agency that serves Hillsborough County, and there are four HART bus lines that stop very close to the stadium.
Below are the lines that run to the ballpark, with information about their frequency and when the last bus runs. If none of these lines runs near your home, you can consider driving to one of the stops and parking there. Some of these lines run only once an hour, so you may need to leave the game a bit early or spend some time waiting before or after it.*
HART buses are very safe—you’re at a lower risk of injury riding a bus than driving a car. And leaving your car at home also means you don’t have to wonder about drinking that second beer.
Here are the HART routes that serve the ballpark; you can find all schedules here.
Route 36 – South Tampa (Britton Plaza) to Carrollwood via Dale Mabry Hwy/Himes Ave
use designated crosswalks at MLK Jr Blvd & Dale Mabry Hwy, follow sidewalk on east side of Dale Mabry Hwy to the pedestrian bridge. Approximately 0.2 miles walk.
Daily, every Hour, approx. 6am – 10pm (last trip from MLK @ Dale Mabry approx. 10:15pm)
Northbound stop: MLK Jr Blvd @ Dale Mabry Hwy #7980
Southbound stop: MLK Jr Blvd @ Dale Mabry Hwy #1143
Route 7 – Downtown Tampa (MTC) to West Tampa
use designated crosswalks at MLK Jr Blvd & Dale Mabry Hwy, follow sidewalk on east side of Dale Mabry Hwy to the pedestrian bridge. Approximately 0.2 miles walk.
Daily, every Hour, approx. 6:30am – 10:45pm (last trip from MLK @ Dale Mabry approx. 11pm)
stop: MLK Blvd @ Dale Mabry Hwy #7980
- will have brief layover at West Tampa Transfer Center heading eastbound
Route 32 – Netpark to Tampa Airport via MLK Jr Blvd
use designated crosswalks at MLK Jr Blvd & Himes Ave and at MLK Jr Blvd & Dale Mabry Hwy, follow sidewalk on south side of MLK Jr Blvd to the east side of Dale Mabry Hwy to the pedestrian bridge. Approximately 0.4 miles walk.
Daily, every 30-60 Minutes on Weekdays & every Hour on Weekends, approx. 5:30am – 10:15pm (last trip from MLK @ Himes approx. 10:30pm)
Eastbound stop: MLK Jr Blvd @ Himes Ave #7702
Westbound stop: Himes Ave @ MLK Jr Blvd #1088
Route 45 – University Area (UATC) to Westshore
use designated crosswalks at MLK Jr Blvd & Himes Ave and at MLK Jr Blvd & Dale Mabry Hwy, follow sidewalk on south side of MLK Jr Blvd to the east side of Dale Mabry Hwy to the pedestrian bridge. Approximately 0.4 miles walk.
Daily, every 30 Minutes, approx. 5:45am – 9:45pm (last trip from MLK @ Himes approx. 10pm)
Northbound stop: MLK Jr Blvd @ Himes Ave #7702
Southbound stop: Himes Ave @ MLK Jr Blvd #1088
*Are you wondering “why don’t the buses run more frequently”? Welcome to one of the largest struggles for public transit agencies. HART and many other local transit systems are working with limited funding and therefore can’t afford to have shorter headways (transit speak for the time between buses). But the long headways then discourage people from riding the bus, which then further reduces transit agency revenue, which makes it that much more difficult to increase bus frequency.
