Cowes Floating Bridge Removed from Service

MedinaView said:
The new Cowes Water Taxi subsided by CHC are now putting their prices up to £2.50 each way for the chain ferry crossing. That's 5 times the price Sally Water Taxis who were not subsided charged.

I think I might stick a Taxi sign on my boat. :D
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On the news this morning it cited £1.50 return. Is this different to what you're speaking of?
 
I was told on the boat that they were putting the price up to £2.50 each way or they would stop all together. I haven't been across since last Sunday though.
 
They have published the following statement. So it looks like I may have got slightly the wrong end of the stick, but pretty close.

They still suggest that they have no subsidy.
 
:D
What I understand (I think)
The Jenny Boat charges £1.50 or £1.00 with a saver card.
The Water Taxi (Folly? ) charges £1.50 and is available when the Jenny isn't in service. The Folly have said that to continue a late evening service it'll have to increase price to £2.50. I've now seen conflicting reports as to whether they're subsidised or not.

Edit. POSTED AT SAME TIME AS MEDINA VIEW. Sorry...
 
Yes, correct. The Jenny Boat takes my Floating Bridge Saver Card which makes the trip £1 return. The Cowes Water Taxi charges £1.50 each way. Up until last year, Sally charged us £1 return for that same crossing, but were replaced by CHC funding the Folly/Cowes Water Taxi to take over the whole river.

Its become much more expensive all round this year trying to get around Cowes Harbour
 
colhel said:
:D
What I understand (I think)
The Folly have said that to continue a late evening service it'll have to increase price to £2.50.
Click to expand...


Col's Late-Night Taxi could be very profitable!

And you can give us lot the old five-blasts if we get in your way ;)
 
Actually, last year Sally charged £4 return from East Cowes to Town Quay and that's a 10 minute trip rather than 30 seconds. And they ran 0800-0000 every day.

I feel I chose the wrong year to move to Cowes.
 
OK, to clear up the subsidy thing 'Folly Waterbus and Cowes Water Taxi' as they are named on Facebook, are being subsidised by CHC for an unknown figure (see weblink below), subsidised by East Cowes Marina to the tune of about £10,000 a year see weblink below), and subsidised by Red Funnel for an unknown figure (see weblink below).

All this and shorter hours and higher fares. Sally Water Taxis must have really pee'd someone off! :(

http://www.cowesharbourcommission.co.uk/new_water_taxi_service_for_2017_season

http://www.cowesharbourcommission.c...CHC_Advisory_Committee_Minutes_April_2017.pdf

https://www.facebook.com/follyphil/posts/1585239658180811
 
It seems to me that the residents who use the ferry during normal working hours are being charged the same price £1.50 as they were on the floating bridge. Only the evening service is going up to £2.50. That seems reasonable unless you are a yachty and want to get over at night, you just have to spend and extra £1 to get over compared to what you did on the floating bridge. The real losers are the car drivers and we have not heard from them. Think this thread has become very biased towards the views of visiting Yachtsmen who are prepared to pay £20 + to park in the marina for the night and object to paying an extra £1 to get over the Medina

David MH
 
My sole point is simple. I bought a house on East Cowes Marina this year. We also bought a small family boat.

We have been coming across to East Cowes for several years and Sally Water Taxis were always very cheap. Last year Cowes Harbour Commission funded the Folly Taxis to put Sally out of business. Now with no Sally and no other taxis but the Folly ones, even though they have 3 different subsidies which Sally never had.....the prices have soared and the level of service has massively decreased.

I am regretting my decision to move to Cowes because of CHC giving a monopoly to one company which now means we have no choice but to pay the higher prices thats if they are even running as they have also been very unreliable.

In all honesty though, after paying Sally 50p to cross the river for many years or £2 each way from East Cowes Marina to Cowes, how can the rise to £1.50 or £2.50 to cross at the chain ferry be justified with the other subsidies that Folly Cowes Water Taxi are receiving?
 
Back in 2010, Sally's were complaining of people setting up taxi services just for events. CHC said they couldn't accept Sally's having rights to a monopoly.

I've never read here what happened to Sally's. I've read that the Folly Taxi took over. But was that because Sally had pulled out.

Sally had a lifeboat call in 2016 due to water shipped from large waves. Was there / is there a investigation that was going to require additional work / action which Sally couldn't sustain?

CHC may have changed its stance since 2010. Or it may not want a monopoly but if Sally pulled out they are left with no choice.

- Boat
- Insurance
- Staff
- Fuel
- Wear & Tear

All adds up.

In seriousness if you set up as a one man band I'm not sure you can really do it... what is the plan if you are sick. If boat breaks?

Commercial vessels normally have to state number of PAX when leaving shore, so if you sink the rescue services know how many people are missing. Something as simple as that could double your staffing requirement as you need to 'call base' so there needs to be someone in the base.

Commercial vessels are expected to get breaks.

Minimum wages mean the employee needs £7.50 /hour minimum and it will become £10/hr soon. Plus all the extra overheads (NI, ?mandated private pension schemes etc). So assuming as self employed owner you want at least the same as the guy ashore You must have staffing overheads of £25/hr. Before you use any fuel etc.
 
dom said:
CHC predatory pricing to create a CHC controlled monopoly. Hmm.
Click to expand...

It sounds all cloak and dagger, but,
To run a year round service you need to make hay while the sun shines.
CHC also had a stakeholder engagement with Sally Taxis.
And, I've been told that Sally taxis and Cowes Water Taxi are were owned by the same people.
I can't understand MVs bitterness towards a company that's trying to fill a gap where the Chain Ferry has failed.
 
If Sally and Cowes Water Taxi are the same people then it's all different staff now and the main guy who was always on the water is no longer there. Also somewhere here I posted a TripAdvisor review that someone had left stating that they had been told by the Folly that CHC had paid them a substantial amount of money to put Sally out of business.

It is all cloak and dagger and we are now held to ransom crossing the river. As there is only one company.

To then find its CHC who stopped the Chain Ferry as well as gave all the water taxis to one company y makes the increase in price and the decrease in service a little hard to swallow.

Its just observations from someone who now lives in East Cowes and it's not quite everything we had been promised from previous years.
 
How long will it be before they realise that FB6 is not fit for purpose and needs replacing ? I appreciate that they have to stop to run the claim against the builders but litigation is a long process so looks like it might be a few years before the IWCC or CHC sorts this one out. Clearly having a negative effect on East Cowes but will any of those impacted receive any compensation. It must have reduced value of East Cowes properties by being virtually cut off ? Maybe an opportunity to build cheap housing in East Cowes though on basis of local depressed prices has an attraction for some.
 
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