Thames Clippers
Thames Clippers (since July 2020 branded as Uber Boat by Thames Clippers for sponsorship purposes with Uber) is a river bus service on the Thames in London, England. The company operates both commuter services between eastern and Central London and tourist services under licence from London River Services. At present they transport around 10,000 passengers daily on average. Company. Sean Collins co-founded Thames Clippers in 1999 with partner Alan Woods as Collins River Enterprises. During his career Sean recognised the opportunity to build a consistent high-speed commuter and passenger river service. Thames Clippers was then taken  over in September 2006 by the American Anschutz Entertainment Group, who promised substantial investment into the company to upgrade the services and to provide a more frequent "hop-on-hop-off" between Central London and The O (formerly the Millennium Dome), also owned by the Anschutz Entertainment Group. In 2007 the company purchased six new catamarans to be used on the commuter service in order to carry a large number of passengers in a comfortable environment. In 2015 and 2017, a total of four new 'Hunt Class' catamarans were purchased for use primarily on the RB6 Service. In July 2020 , the company announced a partnership with U.S.-based ride-sharing service Uber, which acquired naming rights to the ferry and rebranding the service as Uber Boat by Thames Clippers. Tickets. Thames Clippers operate under licence from Transport for London. The river boat service is now better integrated into the tube and bus ticketing network. From November 2009, Thames Clippers services started to accept Oyster pay as you go on all of its services, which also provides a discount on single and return fares. Contactless payment is also accepted. A River Roamer ticket, valid for one day, is available from Thames Clippers  which allows the holder to hop on and hop off along the banks of the Thames between Putney Pier and Woolwich Arsenal Pier (including the Canary Wharf - Rotherhithe Ferry). The cost is £19.90 for an adult and £39.80 for a family. An adult single trip fare changes depending on zones. They range from £4.90 to £13.00 (or £4.50 to £12.00 if payment is made online, in app or with an oyster or contactless card). There is a one third discount for holders of valid travelcards (excluding Family River Roamer tickets and fares for The  O2 Express). Special river service season tickets, valid for either 1 week, 1 month, or 1 year, are also available. Discounts for travelcard holders are also available on season tickets. Carnet tickets are also available via the Thames Clippers tickets app. Park and Glide tickets are also available which grant access to the car park at The O2, and the River Bus. Commuter services. Main commuter service (RB1). During weekday mornings and evenings and throughout the weekend the service runs from Battersea Power Station in the west to Barking Riverside in the east. On weekday daytimes between the peak hours  the service is truncated and serves piers between Westminster and North Greenwich. The service runs every 20 minutes during the day, and every 30 minutes in the very early morning and evenings. Stops from west to east: Canary Wharf/Rotherhithe ferry (RB4). Thames Clippers operates the direct cross river Canary Wharf - Rotherhithe Ferry, between Canary Wharf Pier and the Nelson Dock Pier at the Hilton Hotel in Rotherhithe. The service uses smaller boats than the commuter service but runs at a higher frequency of every 20 minutes and every 10 minutes during peak times. The ferry can be used by  guests of the hotel free of charge as well as by passengers not staying at the hotel at a cost. North Greenwich to Woolwich (RB5). Operates Every 30 minutes on weekends. Service RB1 serves Woolwich Arsenal Mondays to Fridays (Mornings and Evenings only) Putney to Blackfriars (and Canary Wharf) (RB6). This runs peak times Monday to Friday only. Stops are: Trial service to Gravesend. In September 2017, Thames Clippers ran a trial commuter service between Gravesend and Central London. Visitor/tourist services. Tate to Tate and Service West (RB2). The Tate to Tate and Service West operates between Battersea Pier  and London Bridge Pier, serving visitors travelling between the Tate Modern museum on the South Bank and the older Tate Britain in Millbank across the river. The O Express (RB1X). The O Express is an express service calling at London Eye, Westminster Pier, Embankment Pier, London Bridge City Pier, Tower Pier, Greenwich Pier and North Greenwich Pier for The O. The service also provides private charters. Fleet. Thames Clippers operates 16 high-speed catamarans with a maximum speed of , plus a more conventional catamaran for the Hilton ferry. Accidents. In February 2004, a woman was killed after she was hit , while waiting for a boat, by a mooring bollard which had come loose from the Star Clipper at St. Katherine's Pier. On 4 October 2011 at 7 pm, the Moon Clipper hit the Tower Millennium Pier when it was carrying about 50 people. 4 people were injured. On 5 December 2016 the Typhoon Clipper collided with the workboat Alison, resulting in the sinking of the workboat. The two crew members on the workboat were taken to hospital. The future. A Policy Exchange report advocates significant expansion in river services on the Thames. The aim of the report is to  lead to a "river tube line" being created which would lead to easing of current congestion on London's transport systems, and better quality of travel, at a significantly cheaper price than other options. Opponents note that the river capacity, especially at low tide could mean a reduction of tourist boats (especially at peak commuter times), and turn the Thames into an urban highway which would be detrimental to London. To be feasible, the report calls for better management of river traffic, improved interchange with other public transport modes and expansion of key piers. The Mayor of London is responsible  for the River Concordat group group, which is made-up of over forty different organisations including Thames Clippers. The publication, By the River , sets out the strategic vision for improving river transport on the Thames. They plan to expand further East down the river start with a calling at a Pier in Silvertown in October 2019 and plans in the future to go to Thamesmead and Barking. In 2017, Thames Clippers and London Resort made a deal for the provision of Clipper services between Central London and the proposed theme park located on the Swanscombe Peninsula in Kent. The Thames  Clipper services are also planned to operate between the theme park and a park & ride car park located on the north side of the River Thames in Tilbury Docks. These services are scheduled to start operation when the theme park opens in 2024. Sponsorship. The first company to enter a partnership with Thames Clippers was NatWest in 2008. The boats were reliveried in black sponsorship stickers displaying the NatWest and Thames Clippers Logo. KPMG won a three-year sponsorship deal in 2011 and sponsored the clippers during the 2012 Olympics and Paralympics. In August 2014, MBNA the bank holding company  signed a three-year sponsorship deal with Thames Clippers, and introduced a better ticketing system. In June 2020, American company Uber entered a new partnership with Thames Clippers whereby they won naming rights to the service. As of 2020, the service has been rebranded as "Uber Boat by Thames Clippers".