Water taxis could be ferrying passengers up and down the river Liffey by the end of next year if a project by the Dublin Docklands Development Authority (DDDA) goes according to plan.
The authority has appointed Ole Steen Knudsen, a Danish naval architecture firm, to come up with a feasible design for the vessel. If the result is affordable, the ferries would run regularly between the docklands and the Temple Bar/Smithfield area and would have capacity for about 40 passengers.
Mr Peter Coyne, the DDDA's chief executive, said the bridges on the Liffey were low, and the authority had been unable to find an existing design which could cope with such low bridges. It sought tenders from engineering and design firms in April and received "a good spread of interest" from firms here and abroad.
The process showed it was technically feasible to produce such a design, but operational and investment issues would have to be examined. "We are taking it one step at a time," Mr Coyne said.
The number of vessels used would depend on the expense and the speed of the design. The river taxis could be running by late next year if the plan was economically feasible, he said.
This would coincide with the opening of the Stack A development on Custom House Quay, a large retail, restaurant and exhibition complex which will be housed in the listed building in the middle of the Financial Services Centre.
Mr Coyne said the authority believed a ferry service would encourage people to make more use of the river.
It would also link the docklands area with the south quays and reduce traffic on the quays.
