St. Petersburg fills the southern end of the Pinellas peninsula, with Tampa Bay on one side and the Gulf of Mexico on the other. I-275 runs north-south through the city, crossing the bay on the Howard Frankland Bridge toward Tampa and heading south over the Sunshine Skyway Bridge toward Bradenton. Two short spurs, I-175 and I-375, deliver traffic straight into downtown. US 19 follows 34th Street north toward Pinellas Park and Clearwater, Gandy Boulevard leads to the Gandy Bridge, and the Pinellas Bayway connects the south side to St. Pete Beach and Fort De Soto.
The Howard Frankland and the Gandy carry a heavy weekday commute to Tampa, and both back up when a crash or high wind slows the bridges. The Skyway is tall and exposed, and it closes when winds get too strong. Inside the city, 4th Street, 34th Street, Tyrone Boulevard and Central Avenue carry most local trips, and the grid of numbered streets running north-south and avenues running east-west makes nearly every address straightforward to find, which helps a mobile mechanic arrive on time.
Albert Whitted Airport, a small field on the downtown waterfront, serves private pilots, while St. Pete–Clearwater International sits in mid-county and Tampa International is across the bay. The SunRunner bus rapid transit line links downtown with St. Pete Beach, and PSTA buses cover much of the county. Most people still drive, and many cars live in condo garages or on the street a few blocks from the water. Seasonal visitors who winter here often leave a car parked through the summer, and those cars return to service with drained batteries, dried-out tires and salt-crusted brake hardware.