While time by land roads are generally reducing, with more and more bridges are being constructed, it is still sometimes quite viable and direct to have ferry based services in many parts. Faster ferries and launches are a possibility to encourage traffic on this node.
For passengers, the typical costs of ferry, while not high, have to be added to the costs of the subsequent mode of transport which may have to be used to achieve the end to end requirement of transport.
How far the interchange convenience is concerned in most of the places the waterway movement is able to move seamlessly to other modes e.g. bus and train.
A few studies have shown quite convincingly that inland waterways can have a major role to play in the integrated passenger transport planning in an urban area. For example, a study in the Cochin metro area suggests that IWT will be an option that is impossible to ignore in the future growth of the city and calls for integrated investments to increase complementarity with other modes, faster vessels, unified pricing, ticketing and targeted subsidies in the area.
Mumbai has experienced with faster modes of water transport such as hovercrafts ( apart from continuing ferry system), but a sustainable service mix has not been found.
Inland waterways provide a convenient function in related activities, like,
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