Manatee County’s invite for a water taxi service sank before it sailed.
Manatee County wanted a water taxi service connecting mainland destinations and Anna Maria Island as early as this summer but there were no proposals from vendors before the March 30 deadline passed to negotiate for the service.
So it’s back to the drawing board.
Bradenton Area Convention and Visitors Bureau director Elliott Falcione, who county administrator Dr. Scott Hopes tasked to move the project forward, told The Islander March 31 that the county procurement division was reaching out to prospective vendors to gather feedback about their lack of interest and figure out the next step.
For now, though, he said he did not know why the county received no bids and the ITN will not be extended or reopened as it is currently.
“We’re hoping to receive some feedback from some of the water taxi companies that were sent a proposal,” Falcione said. “See what they were missing or what they were looking for. …We will continue to work hard and turn over every rock to pursue a water taxi operation for the county.”
Falcione, when pitching the program to local officials, expressed hope to launch the water taxi by Memorial Day weekend May 28-30.
While the lack of prospects stifled that possibility, Falcione said he remains hopeful for the water taxi’s future.
“You got to draw a line in the sand and target something,” Falcione said. “I don’t look at this as a setback, it’s just part of the process and how we handle the process to keep it moving forward.”
The county’s ITN sought to “a water-borne transportation alternative that provides safe, clean, affordable, consistent, on-time, and Americans with Disabilities-accessible vehicles/service for the benefit of all tourists, employees and residents.”
The document provided few specifications in order to allow bidders freedom in planning their approaches to the service.
Sherman Baldwin, owner of Bradenton Beach-based Paradise Boat Tours and a longtime proponent of a water taxi, told The Islander March 31 that he did not submit a proposal because the county did not address operator concerns, such as funding.
“I don’t believe the invitation to negotiate accurately reflected the challenges an operator would face in making this a viable commuter option,” Baldwin said. “The ITN looked like they were looking for a glorified tour boat operator instead of a people-mover.”
“With this ITN, there were two potential results: a single operator who fails fairly quickly and we learn lessons from it, or nobody submits paperwork and they learn lessons from it,” he added.
Baldwin suggested the county help fund two $3 million vessels that could comfortably and efficiently transport people between downtown Bradenton and the island cities without overlapping with local tour boat businesses, including his own.
He said he would welcome the opportunity to help mold an RFP or ITN that addresses the challenges, as well as the fiscal needs of a viable people-mover.
He added that, if the county takes a “go big or go home concept,” he’d “definitely be interested” in being a provider.
“Whether it’s a year from now, five years from now or 50 years from now, people will be getting around southwest Florida, the Suncoast, via viable commuter water transportation,” Baldwin said. “It’s just ‘when,’ that’s the question.”
While I am not against a water taxi and taking any cars off the island is good, I don’t feel a taxi would make any meaningful reduction in traffic and parking congestion for the island. According to the Holmes Beach Police Chief, ” 22,000 cars came to the island in May alone”. The taxi would need to be subsidized by the county. Removing a couple dozen cars with a taxi is a drop in the bucket. Maybe, the unpopular but arguably better solution, would be revenue generating paid parking with all monies going toward the taxi, more trolleys, additional police, maintenance , garbage collection, etc to maintain the beauty of Anna Maria Island?