I just hate when a ferry service tries to brand itself as a water taxi.

When I used to visit Fort Lauderdale regularly (until 2005), it was in fact called the “Water Bus.” I don’t know why that name was dropped, except for its being operated by a company named Water Taxi, which I think previously operated an on-demand service.

It’s not practical for commuting – the metro is faster and less than half the price – but with more waterfront development there may become more of a market. I’d thought it was mainly for tourists but, interestingly, the main marketing thrust now seems to be aimed at local cyclists (though there are bike path alternatives).

The key to the success of this service is that almost everyone walks to their jobs at the Seattle end, and there are in addition many willing to walk to a transit connection, which, unfortunately, is not provided at the ferry dock. The ferries, or, as we say, boats, are very efficient because they are large, do not attempt to exceed an economical speed, and are usually fully loaded. At the Bainbridge end you find buses waiting, dense housing, and people picking up pedestrian passengers.

This, and the Staten Island boats, which you will note are also large and carry high volumes of traffic, I consider to be practical water transit.

People who don’t know much about boats always like to imagine that some Popular Science invention is going to create a NEW boat that will be fast, cheap, and not require a large crew. Then they imagine that, because they would like to ride such a boat once, commuters would like to ride such a boat every day.

There’s a lot that could go wrong in all that imagining.

Taxi: Demand service. Call for a boat to take you to your destination.

Ferry: Scheduled service.

The new DC service is a ferry.

Someone mentioned Boston which does have a large amount of ferries, although none of them are too popular. For some reason they all continue to exist.

-Inner harbor ferry. $1.70, great tourist ride or trip to airport.
-Outer harbor ferry. Similar to commuter rail in distance and cost
-Water taxi. Demand service to/from 20 or so points, including airport. $10 per person.

http://www.watertaxi.com/FLLMap.Asp.htm

The SeaBus handles on a normal working day 15,000 passengers. During the Olympics, three ferries operated a 10 minute frequency and the ferries carried 45,000 people each day (3 times the normal load).

SeaBus is integrated at both sides with public transit. At the northshore terminal, there is a bus terminal and buses are scheduled to meet the SeaBuses. At the downtown Vanocuver terminal, the SeaBus connects directly to one commuter train line and three SkyTrain lines. These connections are the secret to it’s success.

SeaBus runs from around 5:30am to 1:30am. Daytime and peak service is two vessels providing 15 minute service. Evening (after 7:00pm) is every 30 minutes with one vessel. SeaBus service is extended later and more frequent during special events downtown. A night bus operates over the Lions Gate Bridge when SeaBus is not operating.

The capacity of each SeaBus is 399 passengers. This limit is imposed by Transport Canada. Adding one more person would require the vessel to meet more stringent safety regulations (similar to large cruise ships).

SeaBus runs like a Subway – with automatic doors unloading from one side of the vessel and loading from the other. The Bridge is in the centre above with a single operator on a swivel chair and from that position can operate in either direction. The SeaBus can turn around in 90 seconds. It is operated by a crew of four.

SeaBus has also responded to numerous mayday calls from vessels and seaplanes in distress. On one occasion, the seabus diverted and deployed its life rafts with the assistance of passengers to rescue the passenger for a seaplane that crashed on take-off (engine failure).