Water taxi

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Image:NZ-Auckland-Taxi-Boat.jpg

A water taxi in Auckland

Image:Bristol.harbour.arp.750pix.jpg

A water bus in Bristol Harbour

Image:DubaiAbra.jpg

An Abra in Dubai

Image:Thclipper.jpg

A Thames Clipper in London

Image:Water Taxi.jpg

A New York Water Taxi

A water taxi or water bus is a boat used to provide public transport, usually 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. In North American usage, the two terms 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. A boat service shuttling between two points would normally be described as a ferry rather than a water bus or taxi.

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
Bristol (see also Bristol Ferry Boat)
Cardiff Bay, Cardiff
Chicago
Dubai (see also Abras)
Fort Lauderdale
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)
Pittsburgh
Rotterdam/Dordrecht^[3]
Seattle (see also West Seattle Water Taxi)
Shizuoka
Stockholm^[4]
Sydney (see also Sydney Ferries)
Tigre, Buenos Aires
Toronto (see also Toronto Water Taxi)
Tokyo (see also Tokyo Cruise Ship and Tokyo Mizube Line)
Vancouver (see also False Creek Ferries)
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.^[5]