MCAT offers free trips to Anna Maria Island this holiday weekend. Here’s how to ride

You don’t have to drive yourself out to Anna Maria Island to enjoy the Fourth of July holiday weekend thanks to a new promotion from Manatee County Area Transit.

According to a release, the county is encouraging drivers to avoid heavy crowds and traffic by using the MCAT service from Manatee Avenue straight to the island for free. The service is offered from Thursday, July 4 to Sunday, July 7.

Free rides to Manatee Public Beach are available at any MCAT stop between 75th Street West and Anna Maria Island, county staff said.

“Anna Maria Island has been especially crowded during holiday weekends recently, so the fare special is an incentive to ask people to take the bus to the island and back,” said Chad Butzow, director of the county’s public works department.

MCAT buses are planning to run more frequently than usual between 75th Street and the beach, and a bus should arrive at stops every 15 minutes.

Even if you decide to take your own car, the county says traffic should be more manageable on the island thanks to the presence of additional Manatee County Sheriff’s Office deputies to direct traffic at busy intersections.

More portable toilets will be placed near public beaches and the staff will remove trash from the area more regularly over the weekend, the release said.

However, MCAT’s regular fixed-route, para-transit service and Longboat Key shuttle will be suspended on July 4 and will resume on Friday. For more information, visit www.RideMCAT.org.