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Toronto water taxis and canoe taxis operate in the city of Toronto, Ontario, Canada as an alternate form of transportation to and from the Toronto Islands.
| | This article needs additional citations for verification .(December 2009) |
Toronto water taxis and canoe taxis operate in the city of Toronto, Ontario, Canada as an alternate form of transportation to and from the Toronto Islands.
Unlike the city run ferry service, water taxis are privately run and cost more to cover the same distance. The taxis offer services to those who are stranded on the Islands when ferry service is disrupted or ended or to patrons who have missed boarding their cruise ships at various docks along the mainland. Inner taxis normally offer services within the inner harbour only. [1]
There are currently six, privately owned, water taxi companies who are certified and licensed to operate in the Toronto Harbour.
Water taxis are licensed like land based taxis, and are also regulated by boating regulations. [4] These regulations require the operator to be a licensed commercial motor boat operator (SVOP) and have required life jackets for all occupants. Operators are also required to have Marine First Aid, SDV-BS (formally known as MED A3) and a marine VHF operators license (ROC-M). All certifications are issued by Transport Canada, except for Industry Canada who issues the VHF radio license. All operator certifications are issued by federal bodies, unlike land taxis who receive certifications from provincial bodies (drivers licenses). [5]
Taxi sizes vary from small boats carrying a few passengers to larger vessels carrying 10 or more passengers.
The Toronto Islands are a chain of 15 small islands in Lake Ontario, south of mainland Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport is a regional airport located on the Toronto Islands in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is often referred to as Toronto Island Airport and was previously known as Port George VI Island Airport and Toronto City Centre Airport. The airport's name honours Billy Bishop, the Canadian World War I flying ace and World War II Air Marshal. It is used by civil aviation, air ambulances, and regional airlines using turboprop planes. In 2019, it was ranked Canada's ninth-busiest airport, and the sixth-busiest Canadian airport that serves the U.S.
Harbourfront is a neighbourhood on the northern shore of Lake Ontario within the downtown core of the city of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Part of the Toronto waterfront, Harbourfront extends from Bathurst Street in the west, along Queens Quay, with its ill-defined eastern boundary being either Yonge Street or York Street. Its northern boundary is the Gardiner Expressway. Much of the district was former water lots filled in during the early 1900s to create a larger harbour district. After shipping patterns changed and the use of the Toronto harbour declined, the area was converted from industrial uses to a mixed-use district that is mostly residential and leisure.
The Toronto waterfront is the lakeshore of Lake Ontario in the city of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It spans 46 kilometres between the mouth of Etobicoke Creek in the west and the Rouge River in the east.
A water taxi or a water bus is a watercraft 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.
Toronto Harbour or Toronto Bay is a bay on the north shore of Lake Ontario, in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is a natural harbour, protected from Lake Ontario waves by the Toronto Islands. Today, the harbour is used primarily for recreational boating, including personal vessels and pleasure boats providing scenic or party cruises. Ferries travel from docks on the mainland to the Islands, and cargo ships deliver aggregates and raw sugar to industries located in the harbour. Historically, the harbour has been used for military vessels, passenger traffic and cargo traffic. Waterfront uses include residential, recreational, cultural, commercial and industrial sites.
The Toronto Port Authority (TPA), doing business as PortsToronto (PT), is a port authority that is responsible for the management of the Port of Toronto, including the International Marine Passenger Terminal, and Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport. It was established under the Canada Marine Act as a government business enterprise that is self-funded, with directors appointed by three levels of government – the Government of Canada, the Government of Ontario and the City of Toronto. The TPA rebranded itself as PortsToronto in 2015.
The Toronto Island ferries connect the Toronto Islands in Lake Ontario to the mainland of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The main city-operated ferry services carry passengers (all) and commercial vehicles (some) from the Jack Layton Ferry Terminal at the foot of Bay Street to three docks on the islands. Private motor vehicles are not carried. The ferry operated by PortsToronto carries passengers and vehicles to Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport on the island from the foot of Eireann Quay. Additional private ferries carry passengers to various island boat clubs. Ferry services to the islands began in 1833, and the Toronto Island Ferry company began in 1883.
Coal Harbour is the name for a section of Burrard Inlet lying between Vancouver's Downtown Peninsula and the Brockton Point of Stanley Park. It has also now become the name of the neighbourhood adjacent to its southern shoreline.
Queens Quay is a prominent street in the Harbourfront neighbourhood of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The street was originally commercial in nature due to the many working piers along the waterfront; parts of it have been extensively rebuilt in since the 1970s with parks, condominiums, retail, as well as institutional and cultural development.
The Toronto Ferry Company was formed from the merger of the Doty Ferry Company with A.J. Tymon's Island Ferry Company, two of Toronto's early ferry operators to Toronto Islands in 1890. TFC was founded and headed by businessman Lol Solman. The company's ferry license and ships were later acquired by the Toronto Transportation Commission in 1927. On March 17th, 2021 The Toronto Ferry Company Inc was registered under the Ontario Business Corporations Act to Michael A. McLaughlin
Queens Quay is an underground streetcar station of the Toronto streetcar system in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is the only underground streetcar station that is not part of or connected to a Toronto subway station. It was opened in 1990 as part of the former Harbourfront LRT route. The station is now served by the 509 Harbourfront, 510 Spadina daytime routes and the 310 Spadina night route.
Captain John's Harbour Boat Restaurant was a restaurant and banquet hall in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. For most of its existence it was located in the MS Jadran, a former Adriatic passenger ship that was permanently docked at the foot of Yonge Street at 1 Queens Quay West on Toronto's waterfront. The ship was moored off on a small laneway at the foot of Yonge Street called Captain John's Pier. Once a prestige destination, the restaurant was open every day of the year, including all major holidays such as Christmas and New Year's Day, for almost 40 years. When it opened, the waterfront was an industrial portland. The Harbourfront redevelopment turned the area into a recreational destination for residents and tourists and a residential neighbourhood; Captain John's helped begin a gentrification process that ultimately claimed it as a victim.
A maritime pilot, marine pilot, harbor pilot, port pilot, ship pilot, or simply pilot, is a mariner who maneuvers ships through dangerous or congested waters, such as harbors or river mouths. Maritime pilots are largely regarded as skilled professionals in navigation as they are required to know immense details of waterways such as depth, currents, and hazards, as well as displaying expertise in handling ships of all types and size. Obtaining the title 'maritime pilot' requires being an expert ship handler licensed or authorised by a recognised pilotage authority.
Victoria Harbour is a harbour, seaport, and seaplane airport in the Canadian city of Victoria, British Columbia. It serves as a cruise ship and ferry destination for tourists and visitors to the city and Vancouver Island. It is both a port of entry and an airport of entry for general aviation. Historically it was a shipbuilding and commercial fishing centre. While the Inner Harbour is fully within the City of Victoria, separating the city's downtown on its east side from the Victoria West neighbourhood, the Upper Harbour serves as the boundary between the City of Victoria and the district municipality of Esquimalt. The inner reaches are also bordered by the district of Saanich and the town of View Royal. Victoria is a federal "public harbour" as defined by Transport Canada. Several port facilities in the harbour are overseen and developed by the Greater Victoria Harbour Authority, however the harbour master's position is with Transport Canada.
The Toronto Harbour Commission (THC) was a joint federal-municipal government agency based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The agency managed Toronto Harbour as well as being responsible for major works along the Toronto waterfront. It built the Toronto Island Airport in 1939. The agency was founded in 1911 and operated until 1999 when the port operations were transferred to the new Toronto Port Authority (TPA), now PortsToronto.
A master mariner is a licensed mariner who holds the highest grade of seafarer qualification; namely, an unlimited master's license. Such a license is labelled unlimited because it has no limits on the tonnage, power, or geographic location of the vessel that the holder of the license is allowed to serve upon. A master mariner would therefore be allowed to serve as the master of a merchant ship of any size, of any type, operating anywhere in the world, and it reflects the highest level of professional qualification amongst mariners and deck officers.
Trillium is a side wheeler ferry operated by the City of Toronto Parks, Forestry and Recreation, in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Now 112 years old, she is one of several Toronto Island ferries operating between the Jack Layton Ferry Terminal at Bay Street and Queens Quay and three landing points on the Toronto Islands. She is the last sidewheel-propelled vessel on the Great Lakes.
Harbour Square Park is a park in Toronto, Ontario, Canada right on the Toronto harbour. It is next to the Harbour Square condos, the Jack Layton Ferry Terminal and the Westin Harbour Castle. It is south of Queens Quay and adjacent to the Queens Quay streetcar station. It contains a boardwalk and a permanent public art installation.