Toronto will get more water taxis to relieve overcrowded island ferries

A bridge, a gondola, and an entire LRT line are among the solutions people have put forth to help make the trip to the Toronto Islands on a busy weekend less of a harrowing experience than it often is given the city's handful of ancient ferries.

But, as some of these continue to be considered and discussed by various stakeholders, it looks like residents are getting another, far simpler solution: ramping up existing service we have to get across the harbour.

Council this week carried a new motion tabled by Mayor Olivia Chow to "explore options for maximizing water taxi services to and from Toronto Island Park,"  including, most importantly, issuing more of these types of licences to private operators.

Toronto Island ferries were a mess again this weekend and people are calling the City out https://t.co/qzXSek1hR0

— blogTO (@blogTO) June 17, 2024

As Chow wrote, "With the growth in demand for water taxi services, the authority to grant licences has exceeded Parks, Forestry and Recreation's delegated authority under Municipal Code... We are recommending the Executive Committee adopt a motion to provide the necessary authority, for the next five years, to issue annual licences to qualified water taxi operators."

In the background, the City is also working on procuring new electric ferries — to the tune of $135 million, with associated dock upgrades — and borrowing some relief vessels to supplement service until the permanent replacement fleet arrives.

It won’t be cheaper but it will definitely help with our lacking ferry services during the very busy summer season……#TOpoli https://t.co/hrXacYh3Oq

— Beth Levy (@Beth_Levy66) December 18, 2024

During this year's peak season, there was one (relatively minor) crash when one of the nearly-century-old boats had a mechanical issue during docking, and points where as many as two out of the five ships were completely out of commission for repairs.

Amid discouraging delays on at least one good-weather weekend, the City made the mistake of advising people to "consider choosing another time to visit" the prime summertime attraction, sparking further ire about the situation and the failure to properly remedy it.

City is a joke

— dk (@imdaaniel) June 17, 2024

In years past, there have also been more serious crashes while operations were rushed due to limited ferry capacity, along with weekly complaints about overcrowding, especially on long weekends.

Long lineups are also not uncommon for the available water taxi companies, especially on days where there are ferry issues — something that more licences will certainly help with.