Calls for aid to free water taxi service spring funding leak

Written by Production Department on April 29, 2026

A new Miami Beach water taxi line set sail seeking funds to expand to other communities but sprang a leak as the city’s mayor called for keeping trips free but transportation planners said there’d be no outside support without a revenue stream from passengers.

“It needs to be free so people will use it,” Mayor Steven Meiner told the county Transportation Planning Organization’s governing board last week as he said that the water taxi service started just this year is so popular that it now turns away about 10% of would-be passengers.

He and his family recently arrived 12 minutes before departure, he recounted, but didn’t make the 55-passenger cut to board a taxi for his trip.

“I picture this as a countywide network that can interconnect so much of our county and our cities together,” said Mayor Meiner. Miami Beach is currently funding the water taxi between the City of Miami and Miami Beach at a cost of $1.2 million but wants help to grow.

The planning organization’s chairman, Anthony Rodriguez, quickly threw cold water on the hope for aid. “We don’t have funds for this right now,” he told Mr. Meiner.

“I’ve actually ridden the water taxi. It’s spectacular!” said county Commissioner Raquel Regalado. “My only concern with this current model is we cannot afford free transit…. On the county’s side as it is we can’t afford the transit that we subsidize at 80%. So when we subsidize it at 100%, it becomes untenable, and now we’re not able to pay for maintenance.”

Miami Beach Commissioner David Suarez, a planning organization member who brought a resolution seeking funds for the water taxi network from the Florida Department of Transportation, got the drift of the conversation and changed course.

“The idea of having it free initially is to garner the attention and engagement of both Miami Beach and the City of Miami to let them know that there is a water taxi,” Mr. Suarez explained. “The idea here is to expand upon this to a greater scope, and if that involves a supplemental funding or payment for ridership, that’s something we’re definitely willing to explore…. We’re more than willing to get to the point where we charge a fee to cover maintenance and all the other costs associated with boats. Look, I’m a boater. Boats are very expensive…. That’s certainly in the realm.”

But another county commissioner who represents Miami Beach and also has ridden the new water taxis weighed in with her own concern about fares. Vicki Lopez said she had asked passengers on her water taxi excursions about paying for trips, and Miami Beach residents said they were riding the new taxi line because it’s free.

“If there were to be a charge, I think you would see significant drop-off” in passenger numbers, Ms. Lopez said. “I don’t know that tourists and visitors would expect it to be free. We might be able to get away with charging them a nominal amount to subsidize the cost.”

The planning organization did not discuss how a free local service that also charges visitors might be created, but Miami-Dade transit operations already have a series of fare-free and discount options for such categories of riders as over age 65, military veterans and students.

It is far easier to ask the Florida Department of Transportation for funding if a fare of some sort is being charged to produce a revenue stream, Ms. Regalado said. The state, she said, is not interested in transportation projects without revenues attached.

Commissioner Suarez in his resolution pointed to a 2023 feasibility study fueled by the planning organization that targeted six preliminary routes “that could provide significant benefits.”

“Since the completion of these studies, Miami-Dade County has experienced increased growth, especially in terms of residents and visitors,” says a memo from planning organization Executive Director Aileen Bouclé to board members.

Hopes for a Miami-Dade boat network for commuter traffic to beat roadway congestion have long existed.

In 2016, Miami-Dade began considering a water transit fleet to lessen roadway gridlock. That probe extended from transit via the water with a fixed schedule to water taxis. The county examined all aspects of water transportation, from the size of vessels to fares to projected ridership.

Beyond the Transportation Planning Organization’s work, in 2024, after a year of investigation, Miami-Dade County’s Waterborne Transportation Feasibility Project Working Group, operating under the Office of the Mayor, reported progress on a potential waterborne transit network along the coastline as an added mobility option to accommodate the range of water routes in Miami-Dade – 470 miles of waterways, 45 miles of coastline, and 220 square miles of water in Biscayne Bay.

The Miami Beach free water taxis currently ply Biscayne Bay Monday through Friday from Miami Beach at Maurice Gibb Memorial Park to Miami at Venetian Marina & Yacht Club, sailing hourly from 7 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and every 30 minutes from 4:30 to 7:30 p.m. Each vessel is about 40 feet long and designed to carry up to 55 passengers. As Mayor Meiner’s experience shows, there are no advance reservations.

“This can be expanded in a big way,” the mayor told the planning organization, “and obviously for much cheaper than most transit options.”