Committee preparing taxi report

A proposal to offer water taxi service in Newport Harbor is expected to be finished and presented to the Newport Beach City Council within the next two months.

A subcommittee of the city’s Economic Development Committee is now preparing a proposal for a water taxi service in the harbor, which should be ready for review by the councils in 30 to 60 days, said Councilman Mike Henn, who chairs the committee.

“If we can put together a proposal that makes sense it would be a nice enhancement to the harbor,” he said.

The water taxi service most likely would operate during the summer months, ferrying residents and tourists to restaurants and parks in and around Newport Harbor, Henn said.

The city would own and operate the service, and bid it out to a contractor, he said.

The idea of a taxi service plying the harbor’s waters has been discussed for many years, but the project never came to fruition, Henn said.

But the city would have to make many preparations before such a service becomes possible, such as defining points of embarkation and debarkation, as well as hours of service, he said.

“There’s probably a million and one things to talk about before we see a water taxi service,” Henn said.

Once the proposal is completed, it will be introduced to the council in a study session. If the council likes the idea, the proposal would go back to the Economic Development Committee for review, Henn said.

“It’s got some environmental advantages, too. It saves people from getting into their cars,” Henn said.

“But the idea would be to determine if there’s a proposed solution that would make sense in terms of the service that it provides and that would also make economic sense.”

Water taxi service is not new in coastal areas. Marina del Rey has a water taxi service that operates during the summer, charging passengers $1 each to be ferried to one of seven stops.