Like the tides of the river itself, the past year of the St. Johns River Taxi has had its highs and lows.
It began a long-term contract July 1 after months of serving as an interim contractor. But the company had to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on boats and maintenance.
Ridership numbers remained fairly steady in 2015, but they dipped this year because of closed or altered stops.
Private sponsors stepped up to help meet a city funding match. But even so, the likely outcome will be a break-even first year.
“We’re making it,” said Heather Surface, a partner with Lakeshore Marine Services that operates the river transportation and amenity.
She chalks up the first year of a five-year deal running the service to be an anomaly.
Start-up costs, boat purchases and stop closures contributed to lower-than-expected revenue. In the first year, the company spent close to $500,000. That doesn’t include a management fee or non-essential staff.
The service has taken in close to $258,000 from its regularly scheduled ferrying of people. The first half of a two-year, $240,000 public funding agreement with the city struck last year brings revenue for the year up to $441,000 — still a little short of what’s been spent. That includes private tours.
Surface, though, remains positive about the situation.
She was able to secure the first year of city funding after finding private donations to match the public dollars. And a host of new options should bring in extra revenue.
Starting next week, the water taxi will offer two types of evening cruises Thursday-Saturday.
From 6-7 p.m., it will be a narrated ecological tour departing from the Jacksonville Landing and making its way toward the Sports Complex and Exchange Island.
A sunset cruise from 7:30-8:30 p.m. heads to Riverside and will feature live music onboard.
Tickets for each are $20. Riders can bring their own refreshments.
Surface said the additions came after customer feedback.
“They want more of an experience rather than just crisscrossing the river,” she said.
Additionally, a partnership with the Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens offers afternoon rides to the riverfront destination along with entry fee. Costs range from $30-$40.
The risk of tripling its workload for the extra tours — an extra boat means extra fuel and workers — is worth the chance, Surface said.
To date, most of the water taxi’s customers are patrons staying in Downtown hotels. Over the next year, Surface hopes the additions attract more residents to take a ride or two.
However, the second year will need a commitment from City Hall. Surface said the first year of the funding — the initial $120,000 — was found, but the second year wasn’t locked in.
She’s confident it will be, though, and is in regular communications with the city’s Parks, Recreation and Community Development Department about the water taxi’s progress, ups and downs.
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