ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – The Cross Bay Ferry is a step closer to returning to service.

The Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority voted unanimously Wednesday to accept federal grant money to start sending two ferries across the bay.

The money comes from an unused federal grant worth about $5 million.

Hillsborough Area Regional Transit still has to approve the transfer of that money to PSTA. Officials will vote on that next Monday.

All of this is happening, because Hillsborough County terminated its contract with the cross bay ferry last month.

According to St. Pete’s Transportation Director Evan Mory, the service ended early because operators wanted to swap out the ferry for a slower boat that would’ve taken twice as long to cross the bay, which violated their agreement with Hillsborough County.

Hillsborough County commissioners then terminated the agreement with HMS Ferries in mid April.