Water taxi
A water taxi or a water bus, also known as a sightseeing boat, is a watercraft used to provide public or private transport, usually, but not always, in an urban environment. Service may be scheduled with multiple stops, operating in a similar manner to a bus, or on demand to many locations, operating in a similar manner to a taxi. A boat service shuttling between two points would normally be described as a ferry rather than a water bus or taxi.
The term water taxi is usually confined to a boat operating on demand, and water bus to a boat operating on a schedule. In North American usage, the terms are roughly synonymous.
The earliest water taxi service was recorded as operating around the area that became Manchester, United Kingdom.
Locations[edit]
Cities and other places operating water buses and/or taxis include:
- Amsterdam
- Astana
- Auckland[1]
- Baltimore
- Bangkok
- Bordeaux
- Boats BatCub[3]
- Boston[4]
- Bratislava
- Bremen
- Brisbane
- Bristol
- Brunei
- Bucharest
- Buenos Aires, Tigre
- Bydgoszcz, Poland
- Cardiff
- Cap-Haïtien, Haiti (at Labadee beach)
- Cape Town
- Caye Caulker
- Charleston
- Chicago
- Copenhagen
- Davao City
- Davao water taxi service
- Dubai
- Erie, Pennsylvania
- Fort Lauderdale
- Galápagos Islands
- Gothenburg
- Älvsnabben ferry
- Paddan[7]
- Guangzhou, China
- Halifax Regional Municipality
- Hamburg
- Helsinki
- Hong Kong: Cheung Chau, Chi Ma Wan, Peng Chau, Silvermine Bay
- Istanbul[8]
- Jacksonville, Florida
- Karachi
- Kobe
- Kochi
- Kragerø and surrounding area, Norway
- Kristiansund, Norway
- Lake Ozark, Missouri[9]
- Laughlin, Nevada and Bullhead City, Arizona
- Lisbon
- London
- Long Beach, California
- Malta
- Manila
- Moscow (River tram[10])
- Mumbai (Catamarans and ferries)
- Nantes
- New York City
- New Zealand[11]
- Niigata
- Oklahoma City[12]
- Orlando, Florida
- Osaka
- Oslo
- Panama
- Paris
- Pittsburgh
- Plymouth
- Potsdam, Germany[14]
- Quad Cities, Illinois/Iowa[15]
- Rotterdam/Dordrecht[16]
- Sacramento
- Saint Petersburg
- Aquabus[17]
- Seattle
- Seoul[18]
- Sha Lo Wan, Tai O, Tuen Mun, Tung Chung (Urmston Road, Hong Kong)
- Shizuoka
- Singapore (Singapore River)
- Spalding (River Welland)
- Stockholm[19]
- Sydney
- Tallinn[20]
- Tampa[21]
- The Woodlands, Texas
- Tokyo
- Toronto
- Trinidad
- Water Taxi Service, Port of Spain to San Fernando – service implemented in December 2008
- Vancouver
- Venice
- Victoria, British Columbia
- Walt Disney World[23]
- Wellington
- Winnipeg
- Xochimilco, Mexico City
- Yokohama
On demand water taxis are also commonly found in marinas, harbours and cottage areas, providing access to boats and waterfront properties that are not directly accessible by land.
Incidents[edit]
On March 6, 2004, a water taxi on the Seaport Taxi service operated by the Living Classrooms Foundation capsized during a storm on the Patapsco River, near Baltimore's Inner Harbor. A total of 5 passengers died in the accident, which the National Transportation Safety Board determined was caused by insufficient stability when the small pontoon-style vessel encountered strong winds and waves. The company no longer operates water taxi vessels in Baltimore harbor.[24]
See also[edit]
- Duffy-Herreshoff watertaxi
- Ferry, including hydrofoil, catamaran and hovercraft
- Klotok
- Moskvitch-class motorship - Soviet "water tramway"
- Pleasure barge
- Rower woman
- Ship's tender
References[edit]
- ^ "Auckland Water Taxis". destination-nz.com. Retrieved July 1, 2008.
- ^ "Ed Kane's Water Taxi". Ed Kane's Water Taxi. Retrieved May 13, 2009.
- ^ "Boats BatCub". Tbc. Retrieved 11 April 2014.
- ^ "City Water Taxi". Retrieved July 1, 2008.
- ^ "Bratislava Propeler". Retrieved November 4, 2014.
- ^ "Bratislava Propeler". Retrieved November 4, 2014.
- ^ "Hop-On Hop-Off by Paddan". Strömma Turism & Sjöfart. Retrieved 11 April 2014.
- ^ http://www.deniztaksi.com.tr
- ^ "Water Excursions/Charters/Water Taxi". Lake of the Ozarks Convention & Visitor Bureau. 2012. Retrieved January 20, 2014.
- ^ Water transport of Moscow (in Russian)
- ^ "New Zealand Ferries, Water Taxis & Cruises". destination-nz.com. Retrieved July 1, 2008.
- ^ "Bricktown Water Taxi". Retrieved October 14, 2009.
- ^ Ruter (2008-03-07). "Båt" (in Norwegian). Retrieved 2008-07-08.
- ^ "Potsdamer Wassertaxi" (in German). Retrieved July 1, 2008.
- ^ "The Channel Cat Water Taxi". Retrieved August 22, 2009.
- ^ "Waterbus Rotterdam/Dordrecht" (in Dutch). Retrieved September 9, 2007.
- ^ Water transport of Saint-Petersburg (in Russian)
- ^ "Han River Water Taxi". Retrieved April 6, 2010.
- ^ "Local boat transport". Stockholm Visitors Board. Retrieved 2012-07-24.
- ^ Veetakso
- ^ [1]
- ^ "Victoria Harbour Ferry". Retrieved 2010-01-31.
- ^ "Water Transportation". Walt Disney World. Retrieved 11 April 2014.
- ^ "Insufficient Stability Caused Passenger Vessel to Capsize". MarineLink.com. Retrieved July 26, 2007.
External links[edit]
- Media related to Water taxis at Wikimedia Commons