Want to take a water taxi across Sarasota Bay? You might be waiting awhile.

It may take another decade before its first passengers float across Sarasota Bay, but the city of Sarasota has moved forward with a plan to develop a water taxi service between Bayfront Park and Ken Thompson Park on City Island.

City Transportation Department staff and representatives of marine and coastal engineering and consulting firm Cummins and Cederberg teamed up to present a progress report on the effort on June 11 at Bayfront Community Center. The presentation included updates that focused on conceptual designs of docks and adequate upland facilities to accommodate passengers and vessels alike. 

Terminal locations are at the public dock at O’Leary’s Tiki Bar at Bayfront Park and the fishing pier area at Ken Thompson Park just east of New Pass. The latter was destroyed during the 2024 hurricane season and has yet to be rebuilt.

Initial studies of the project in 2020 included a potential third dock location in the area of Little Ringling Bridge near St. Armands, but has since been eliminated from consideration.

Photo by Andrew Warfield

“One of the challenges with some of the sites that were mentioned in that earlier study was that they were in really shallow areas, which require a lot of dredging,” said Cummins and Cederberg Associate Principal Jenna Phillips. “When you go into dredging, a lot of times you have sea grasses, so the focus of this project is really to avoid and minimize any adverse impacts on those resources.”

Both the O’Leary’s and Ken Thompson Park sites have minimal to no seagrasses and, equally important, little presence of manatee activity.

“The good news in both of those sites we were able to confirm the water depths are sufficient to utilize a water taxi,” Phillips said.

Photo by Carlin Gillen

At this stage, there is no consideration as to the type of vessels that would be used for the operations, nor are there any estimates on how much a ride would cost nor how high the demand. The latter will eventually come in the form of market research. Phillips and Sarasota Chief Transportation Planner Corinne Arriaga said the vessel type, likely operated by a third-party vendor, would be dictated by the dock design. 

The boats typically carry 40 passengers.

The priority for now is working toward applying for grants to advance the designs beyond the current 30%, navigating the permitting labyrinth that accompanies any marine construction project and getting construction underway.

“We're prioritizing those docks rather than focusing on the operation because we can't have that operation without the infrastructure in place to support it,” Arriaga said. “So, our key focus right now is, how do we build the docks, and additionally, how do people move around once they get dropped off?”

Courtesy image

In 2003, the city changed the code of ordinances to allow for alternative transportation services such as water taxis and ferries. In 2020, the city executed the water taxi feasibility study, the update of which was revealed last week.

Arriaga estimated the cost to build the docks at between $1.2 million and $1.5 million, and the city will pursue state and federal grants, most likely requiring a city match. Until then, no more significant progress can be expected. At the speed of government, grant request responses can take as long as a year, a construction contract agreement another year and construction two to three years after that — if all goes perfectly.

“So when will it be ready?” an attendee asked.

“Ten years. Five minimum,” Arriaga answered.