Miami Beach ends $50,000-a-month water taxi deal after repeated maintenance failures

Miami Beach is cutting off funding for a water taxi across Biscayne Bay about two months after it set sail, a disappointing result for a pilot program that officials had hoped would offer a viable alternative to sitting in traffic.

The Poseidon Ferry has been plagued by maintenance problems since the city agreed in June to subsidize it at $50,000 per month in a no-bid deal. On Wednesday, the City Commission voted unanimously without discussion to terminate the agreement.

“This service has proven to be unreliable, and the taxpayers deserve better,” Commissioner Alex Fernandez told the Miami Herald. “Right now it’s just irresponsible to continue with this.”

A representative for Poseidon Ferry LLC declined to comment Wednesday.

The ferry’s hourly departures between Maurice Gibb Memorial Park in South Beach and Sea Isle Marina in downtown Miami began June 30 but were quickly interrupted because of mechanical issues on July 4 and July 6. Additional mechanical failures led to five straight days without service from July 10 to July 14, followed by two more days of partial service interruptions.

The 149-person vessel broke down again from Aug. 7-9. The next day, Poseidon resumed service as its owner struck a deal to use a different boat. But 10 days after that, on Aug. 20, service was suspended indefinitely because the spare boat was no longer available, according to a city memo .

Low ridership has also plagued the water taxi. On days that it has operated, average ridership has been about 43 people per day, according to data from the city. During the first month, an average of three passengers boarded for each trip. In August, there was less than one passenger per trip.

The city’s memo added that the ferry experienced “persistent air conditioning breakdowns” and customer complaints about “the cleanliness and appearance of the vessel.”

Fernandez said he also spoke to riders who griped about the smell of fumes emitting from the ferry. Any future providers should offer reliable, environmentally friendly service, he said.

“I think there is room for private operators to come in and offer on-demand services,” he said, “but the taxpayers don’t need to be subsidizing a service like Poseidon.”

READ MORE: Water taxi with history of low ridership gets $50,000 monthly subsidy from Miami Beach

One-way fares were $12 for adults. Miami Beach residents and city employees rode free for the first month, then were charged $5 fares.

According to city data, 1,262 of the 1,627 passengers this summer (78%) were Miami Beach residents or employees.

This isn’t the first time the Poseidon Ferry has failed to live up to expectations.

In late 2020, the ferry launched without public funding but stalled operations because of low ridership of about 70 people per day during the COVID-19 pandemic. The boat relaunched service in August 2021 , but low ridership again forced it to dock at the end of 2022.

At a public meeting last May, a representative for Poseidon Ferry LLC said the company had lost about $500,000 during its final year of operation in 2022. Previously, the ferry departed from Bentley Bay Marina, a private dock at which the company was paying about $25,000 per month, contributing to its financial challenges.

The City Commission agreed to help, approving the $50,000 monthly subsidy for a one-year pilot totaling $600,000. The funds were intended to subsidize about half of the company’s annual operating costs.

Under a concession agreement between the city and Poseidon Ferry LLC, the company was not allowed to stop service for more than two days at a time.

The city agreed to pay the company on a prorated basis for months in which there were interruptions in service. City spokesperson Melissa Berthier said the city has paid Poseidon about $66,000.

Miami Beach Mayor Steven Meiner has championed ferry service as one way to address the city’s traffic woes . In addition to a water taxi across Biscayne Bay, Meiner has floated the idea of north-south water transportation within the city.

City officials aren’t ready to give up on the concept. On Wednesday’s agenda, City Commissioner David Suarez introduced an item suggesting a possible relocation of water taxi service from Maurice Gibb Memorial Park in Sunset Harbour to the Miami Beach Marina further south.