The Presque Isle Water Taxi, sometimes referred to as the Aquabus, is a

water taxi 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 o ...

service operated by the Erie–Western Pennsylvania Port Authority (EWPPA) on

Presque Isle Bay Presque Isle Bay is a natural bay located off the coast of Erie, Pennsylvania, United States. Its embayment is about in length, about across at its widest point, and an average depth of about . The bay is at an elevation of 571 ft (174 m) ...

Erie Erie (; ) is a city on the south shore of Lake Erie and the county seat of Erie County, Pennsylvania, United States. Erie is the fifth largest city in Pennsylvania and the largest city in Northwestern Pennsylvania with a population of 94,831 a ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

. The water taxi departs from

Dobbins Landing Dobbins Landing is a popular tourist area located at the edge of Presque Isle Bay at the terminus of State Street in Erie, Pennsylvania. Consisting of a wharf and adjoining facilities, the landing includes the Bicentennial Tower, the Sheraton Erie ...

downtown Erie Downtown Erie, is the central business, cultural and government center for the city of Erie, Pennsylvania. Erie’s Central Business District includes Gannon University, UPMC Hamot hospital, Erie Insurance, and city and county government offices ...

and travels to the Waterworks in

Presque Isle State Park Presque Isle State Park () is a Pennsylvania State Park on an arching, sandy peninsula that juts into Lake Erie, west of the city of Erie, in Millcreek Township, Erie County, Pennsylvania, in the United States. The peninsula sweeps northe ...

, with a stopover at

Liberty Park Liberty Park is a elevated public park at the World Trade Center in Manhattan, New York City, overlooking the National September 11 Memorial & Museum in Lower Manhattan. The park, which opened on June 29, 2016, is located above the World Trad ...

History

In 1997, the Waterworks Ferry Dock in Presque Isle State Park received a $1.1 million renovation and dredging to reverse decades of deterioration. Water taxi service between the Waterworks and downtown Erie began on June 7, 1997 with the introduction of the ''Presque Isle Express''—a , 36-passenger

pontoon boat A pleasure boat with two lengthwise pontoons A pontoon boat is a flattish boat that relies on floats to remain buoyant. These pontoons (also called ''tubes'') contain much reserve buoyancy and allow designers to create large deck plans fitted w ...

. The ''Presque Isle Express'' ran for two years until the Erie–Western Pennsylvania Port Authority purchased two ferry boats in 1999. The Port Authority was appropriated $800,000 from the federal government by the

Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century The United States federal Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA-21) is a federal transportation bill enacted June 9, 1998, as and . TEA-21 authorized federal surface transportation programs for highways, highway safety, and transit ...

(TEA-21) for the acquisition. The service was originally expected to have three stops along the Erie bayfront and two on Presque Isle. The twin ,

fiberglass Fiberglass (American English) or fibreglass (Commonwealth English) is a common type of fiber-reinforced plastic using glass fiber. The fibers may be randomly arranged, flattened into a sheet called a chopped strand mat, or woven into glass cloth ...

boats were named ''Aquabus I'' and ''Aquabus II''; a third vessel was procured in 2001 and christened the ''Canadian Sailor''. Though similar to the ''Aquabuses'', the ''Canadian Sailor'' has a capacity of 42 passengers, an enclosed seating area, and the ability to travel out of the sheltered confines of Presque Isle Bay and into

Lake Erie Lake Erie ( "eerie") is the fourth largest lake by surface area of the five Great Lakes in North America and the eleventh-largest globally. It is the southernmost, shallowest, and smallest by volume of the Great Lakes and therefore also has t ...

. The ''Canadian Sailor'' made trips from Erie to

Barcelona, New York Westfield is a town in the western part of Chautauqua County, New York, United States. The population was 4,513 at the 2020 census. Westfield is also the name of a village within the town, containing 65% of the town's population. This unique to ...

in 2002 and was part of a proposal to operate a ferry route between Erie and

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. In 2011, the ''Canadian Sailor'' was the subject of a short-term

lease A lease is a contractual arrangement calling for the user (referred to as the ''lessee'') to pay the owner (referred to as the ''lessor'') for the use of an asset. Property, buildings and vehicles are common assets that are leased. Industrial ...

to Buffalo Sailing Adventures to trial a ferry service in

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of New York (behind only New York City) and the seat of Erie County. It is at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of the Niagara River, and is across the Canadian border from South ...

Current operations

The Presque Isle Water Taxi departs from

, at the end of State Street, on the hour. The water taxi stops in Liberty Park before reaching its final destination of

—total time for a roundtrip takes 50 minutes. It usually makes eight trips a day, seven days a week during the summer months with weather permitting as the water taxi does not run in rain and windy conditions.

References

Sources

External links

*
Take a Ride on Erie's Aquabus
( GoErie.com) {{coord, 42.13777, -80.09032, type:landmark_globe:earth_region:US-PA, display=title 1999 establishments in Pennsylvania Ferries of Pennsylvania Transportation in Erie, Pennsylvania Tourist attractions in Erie, Pennsylvania Water taxis