Matt Ashby wrote:
I took a Thames Clippers boat from Canary Wharf to St.
Katherine's pier on Friday, and it was a really enjoyable
experience and a reasonably quick way across the city.
The journey time from Embankment to Canary Wharf is 21
minutes -- 4 minutes longer than the tube. To Greenwich,
the boat takes about the same time as National Rail, and
is quicker than the DLR.

So my question is, would it be possible to integrate the
river services into the rest of the TfL system? This would
include increasing capacity and frequency to mass transit
levels, and either buying out the existing providers (as
was done with the tube) or taking control of scheduling
and pricing while contracting out the service provision to
private operators (as is the case with London Buses).

And if it was possible, would it make economic sense?

Although it's a nice idea, TfL have already looked at this and concluded
that it would require far too much subsidy to run - it would need the
biggest subsidy per passenger of any mode of transport in London. I
haven't got any figures but I'm sure the Mayor answered a question like
this in one of the weekly Mayor's Question Times (the questions and
answers to which are on www.london.gov.uk somewhere).

--
Dave Arquati
Imperial College, SW7
www.alwaystouchout.com - Transport projects in London