Water taxi

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A water taxi or water bus is a boat used to provide public 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.

In North American usage, the terms water bus and water taxi are roughly synonymous, whilst elsewhere the term water taxi is usually confined to a boat operating on demand, and water bus to a boat operating on a schedule.

Contents 1 Locations 2 Incidents 3 See also 4 References

[edit] Locations

Cities and other places operating water buses and/or taxis include:

• Auckland^[1]
• Baltimore^[2]
• Bangkok
• Boston
• Brisbane (see also CityCat and CityFerry)
• Bristol (see also Bristol Ferry Boat)
• Cardiff
• Chicago
• Dubai (see also Abras)
• Fort Lauderdale
• Gothenburg ("Paddan" tour boat and "Älv-snabben" water bus lines)
• Hamburg
• Jacksonville
• Kobe
• Laughlin, Nevada and Bullhead City, Arizona
• London (see also Thames Clipper)
• New York City (see also New York Water Taxi)
• Niigata
• Osaka (see also Osaka Suijō Bus)
• Oslo
• Pittsburgh
• Potsdam (Germany)^[3]
• Rotterdam/Dordrecht^[4]
• Seattle (see also West Seattle Water Taxi)
• Seoul
• Shizuoka
• Singapore (Singapore River)
• Stockholm^[5]
• Sydney (see also Sydney Ferries)
• Tigre, Buenos Aires
• Toronto (see also Toronto water taxis)
• Tokyo (see also Tokyo Cruise Ship and Tokyo Mizube Line)
• Vancouver (see also False Creek Ferries and SeaBus)
• Venice
• Winnipeg
• Xochimilco, Mexico City (see also Chalupa)
• Yokohama (see also The Port Service and Keihin Ferry Boat)

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.

[edit] 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.^[6]

[edit] See also

• Duffy-Herreshoff watertaxi
• Ferry
• Moskvitch (ship) - Soviet "water tramway"

v • d • e Public transport Bus Bus rapid transit • Express bus • Paratransit • Public light bus • Trolleybus Rail Cable railway • Commuter rail • Heavy rail • Heritage railway • Heritage streetcar • High-speed rail • Inter-city rail • Interurban • Light rail • Maglev • Medium capacity system • Monorail • People mover • Personal rapid transit • Rapid transit • Regional rail • Rubber-tyred metro • Tram • Tram-train Car/Carriage Auto rickshaw • Carsharing • Cycle rickshaw • Hackney carriage • Horsecar • Horse-drawn vehicle • Motorcycle taxi • Rickshaw • Share taxi • Taxicab • Vehicle for hire Water transport Cable ferry • Ferry • Hovercraft • Hydrofoil • Water taxi Locations Bus bulb/boarder • Bus garage • Bus lane • Bus stand • Bus station • Bus stop • Bus terminus • Bus turnout • Interchange station • Kassel kerb • Layover • Metro station • Park and ride • Queue jump • Taxicab stand • Train station • Tram stop • Transportation hub Revenue/Fares Bus advertising • Contract of carriage • Dead mileage • Farebox recovery ratio • Free travel pass • Manual fare collection • Proof-of-payment • Transit fares • Transit pass • Zero-fare public transport Scheduling NextBus • Public transport timetable • Schedule adherence Other Boarding • Hail and ride • Headsign • Request stop • Rollsign

[edit] References

1. ^ Auckland Water Taxis. destination-nz.com. Retrieved on July 27, 2007.
2. ^ Ed Kane's Water Taxi. Ed Kane's Water Taxi. Retrieved on July 27, 2007.
3. ^ http://www.potsdamer-wassertaxi.de/
4. ^ Waterbus Rotterdam/Dordrecht. Retrieved on September 9, 2007.
5. ^ Taxi Boats (English). Stockholm Town. Retrieved on 2008-01-03.
6. ^ Insufficient Stability Caused Passenger Vessel to Capsize. MarineLink.com. Retrieved on July 26, 2007.