# Water taxi

A water taxi or a water bus is a boat 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, England.

## Locations

Cities and other places operating water buses and/or taxis include:
* Alapuzha Water Taxi
* Alexandria, Virginia
* Amsterdam
* Annapolis, Maryland
* Antwerp
* Auckland
* Bahrain
* Baltimore
** Baltimore Water Taxi
* Bangkok
** Chao Phraya Express Boat
** Khlong Saen Saep boat service
** Khlong Phadung Krung Kasem boat service
* Berlin (see: de:Fährverkehr in Berlin)
* Bordeaux
** Boats BatCub
* Boston
* Bremen
* Brisbane
** CityCat
** CityFerry
* Bristol
** Bristol Ferry Boats
* Brussels
* Brunei
* Bucharest
* Budapest
* Buenos Aires, Tigre
* Bydgoszcz, Poland
* Cardiff
** Cardiff Waterbus
* Cap-Haïtien, Haiti (at Labadee beach)
* Cape Town
* Caye Caulker
* Charleston
* Chicago
* Copenhagen
** Copenhagen Harbour Buses
* Davao City
** Davao water taxi service
* Dhaka
** Buriganga River water bus
** Hatirjheel water taxi
* Dubai
** Abras
** RTA water taxis (recently introduced)
* Erie, Pennsylvania
** Presque Isle Water Taxi
* Fort Lauderdale
* Galápagos Islands
* Gdańsk
* Geneva
** Mouettes Genevoises
* Gothenburg
** Älvsnabben ferry
** Paddan
* Guangzhou, China
* Halifax Regional Municipality
* Hamburg
** HADAG
* Helsinki
* Hertford
* Ho Chi Minh City
** Saigon Waterbus
* Hong Kong
** Cheung Chau, Chi Ma Wan, Peng Chau, Silvermine Bay
** Sun Ferry
** Sha Lo Wan, Tai O, Tuen Mun, Tung Chung (Urmston Road, Hong Kong)
* Istanbul
* Jacksonville, Florida
** Jacksonville Water Taxi
* Karachi
* Kobe
* Kochi
* Kragerø and surrounding area, Norway
* Kristiansund, Norway
* Lake Ozark, Missouri
* Laughlin, Nevada and Bullhead City, Arizona
* Leeds
* Lisbon
** Transtejo & Soflusa
* London
** London River Services
** Uber Boat by Thames Clippers
* Long Beach, California
** Long Beach Transit
* Lorient
* Malta
** Dghajsa
* Manila
** Pasig River Ferry Service
* Marseille
* Moscow (River tram
* Mumbai (Catamarans and ferries)
* Nantes
** Navibus
* National Harbor, Maryland
* New York City
** Liberty Water Taxi
** New York Water Taxi
** NYC Ferry
* New Orleans - Baton Rouge, Louisiana: Mississippi River from mouth to Baton Rouge, Louisiana; Belle Chasse Marine, Port Ship Service, Crescent Ship Service and Weber Marine.
* New Zealand
* Niigata
* Nur-Sultan
* Oklahoma City
* Orlando, Florida
* Osaka
** Osaka Suijō Bus
* Oslo
** NBDS
** Oslo-Fergene
* Panama
* Paris
** Batobus
** Voguéo
* Potsdam, Germany
* Quad Cities, Illinois/Iowa
* Rotterdam/Dordrecht
* Sacramento
* San Francisco
** SF Water Taxi
* San Martín de los Andes
* Saint Petersburg
** Aquabus
* Seattle
** King County Water Taxi
* Seoul
* Shizuoka
* Singapore (Singapore River)
* Spalding (River Welland)
* Stockholm
* Sydney
* Tallinn
* Tampa
* Timișoara
* Tokyo
** Tokyo Cruise Ship
** Tokyo Mizube Line
* Toronto
** Toronto water taxis
* Trinidad
** Water Taxi Service, Port of Spain to San Fernando – service implemented in December 2008
* Trogir
* Pittsburgh
* Plymouth
* Portland, Maine
* Victoria, British Columbia
** Victoria Harbour
* Vancouver
** The Aquabus
** Coastal Link Ferries
** English Bay Launch
** False Creek Ferries
** Granville Island Water Taxi Services (defunct)
** SeaBus
* Venice
** Gondola
** Vaporetto
* Walt Disney World
* Wellington
** Ferries in Wellington
* Winnipeg
* Xochimilco, Mexico City
** Chalupa
* Yokohama
** Keihin Ferry Boat
** The Port Service
| Water taxi in San Martín de los Andes | Water taxi near the train station, Grand Canal, Venice | Vaporetto and bus stops in Venice |
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 five 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.