The new water taxi in Potsdam / Germany

A water taxi in Auckland

A pair of water taxis operating on the waterfront of Boston

A water bus in Bristol Harbour

An Abra in Dubai

New generation water bus in Dubai

A Thames Clipper in London

A New York Water Taxi

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.

Locations

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

• Auckland ^[1]
• Baltimore ^[2]
• Bangkok
• Boston ^[3]
• Brisbane (see also CityCat and CityFerry)
• Bristol (see also Bristol Ferry Boat)
• Cardiff
• Chicago
• Copenhagen
• Dubai (see also Abras)
• Fort Lauderdale
• Gothenburg ("Paddan" tour boat and "Älv-snabben" water bus lines)
• Hamburg
• Istanbul^[4]
• Jacksonville, Florida
• Kobe
• Laughlin, Nevada and Bullhead City, Arizona
• London (see also London River Services and Thames Clippers)
• Nantes (see also Navibus)
• Manila (see also Pasig River Ferry Service)
• New York City (see also Liberty Water Taxi and New York Water Taxi)
• New Zealand ^[5]
• Niigata
• Osaka (see also Osaka Suijō Bus)
• Oslo (see also Bygdøfergene, NBDS and Oslo Fergene)^[6]
• Pittsburgh
• Potsdam (Germany)^[7]
• Quad Cities of Moline, Illinois and Bettendorf, Iowa
  operate the rarely-utilized Channel Cat Water Taxi ^{[8] [9]}.
• Rotterdam/Dordrecht ^[10]
• Seattle (see also West Seattle Water Taxi)
• Seoul
• Shizuoka
• Singapore (Singapore River)
• Spalding (River Welland)
• Stockholm^[11]
• 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 (see also Gondola)
• 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.

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.^[12]

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Water taxis

• Abra (boat)
• Chalupa (boat)
• Duffy-Herreshoff watertaxi
• Ferry, including hydrofoil, catamaran and hovercraft
• Gondola
• Moskvitch (ship) - Soviet "water tramway"
• Pleasure barge

References

1. ^ "Auckland Water Taxis". destination-nz.com. Retrieved on July 1, 2008.
2. ^ "Ed Kane's Water Taxi". Ed Kane's Water Taxi. Retrieved on July 27, 2007.
3. ^ "City Water Taxi". Retrieved on July 1, 2008.
4. ^ http://www.deniztaksi.com.tr
5. ^ "New Zealand Ferries, Water Taxis & Cruises". destination-nz.com. Retrieved on July 1, 2008.
6. ^ Ruter (2008-03-07). "Båt" (in Norwegian). Retrieved on 2008-07-08.
7. ^ "Potsdamer Wassertaxi" (in German). Retrieved on July 1, 2008.
8. ^ "The Channel Cat Water Taxi". Retrieved on July 1, 2008.
9. ^ "Channel Cat Water Taxi". Retrieved on July 1, 2008.
10. ^ "Waterbus Rotterdam/Dordrecht" (in Dutch). Retrieved on September 9, 2007.
11. ^ "Taxi Boats". Stockholm Town. Retrieved on 2008-01-03.
12. ^ "Insufficient Stability Caused Passenger Vessel to Capsize". MarineLink.com. Retrieved on July 26, 2007.