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
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
- 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
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
- Duffy-Herreshoff watertaxi
- Ferry, including hydrofoil, catamaran and hovercraft
- Klotok
- Moskvitch-class motorship - Soviet "water tramway"
- Pleasure barge
- Rower woman
- Ship's tender
References
- ↑ "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
- ↑
- ↑ "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
- Media related to Water taxis at Wikimedia Commons