Queenstown water taxi service launched

Kelvin Heights resident Gillian Bezett is Queenstown Water Taxi's very first regular.Mrs Bezett signed up for a concession card on the taxi's first day of operation. Taxi drivers and business owners Andre Cockburn (left) and Neville Kelly say that despite rough water, they had an excellent start, with two passengers yesterday morning. Photo by Felicity Wolfe.

The first woman to sign up for a concession card with Queenstown's newest taxi service thinks it is "fantastic".

Yesterday morning, Queenstown Water Taxi made its first scheduled run from Frankton Marina to Queenstown Bay, picking up two customers on the way.

One of them, Gillian Bezett, said she had been waiting for the service to start.

It saved her a daily commute of about 20km each way.

She said the idea was "fantastic", and had saved her having to find a park for the day.

At $7.50 with a concession card, the service was about "the same as it costs to drive into town", and helped reduce her carbon footprint, Mrs Bezett said.

Taking a taxi from her Kelvin Heights home to central Queenstown would cost her about $50, Otago Daily Times inquiries revealed.

The owners of Queenstown Water Taxi, Neville Kelly and Andre Cockburn, hope that by the end of the month they will have 10 regular users and more casuals.

"If we can have 10 people signed up and using the service after a month, then we will start to have an impact on the congestion on Frankton Rd," Mr Cockburn said.

The trip takes about 25 minutes, leaving Frankton Marina at 7.20am, calling past Kelvin Heights, and ending in Queenstown Bay, at St Omer Wharf, next to the Earnslaw.

It leaves St Omer Wharf at 5.30pm.

Mr Kelly and Mr Cockburn said they are keen to get more information from Kelvin Heights residents about their travel needs.