The Niagara Region is one of the top staycation destinations for Canadians, getting about 13 million tourists per year — and more than 90 per cent arrive by car. While it currently takes just under 2 hours to drive between Toronto and wine country, a hovercraft could cut that travel time to about 30 minutes!
Hoverlink Ontario is planning to launch a high-speed, biodiesel-powered hovercraft ferry service between Billy Bishop Airport in downtown Toronto and Niagara. It’ll be super convenient, landing at the Port Weller Terminal in St. Catharines, near tons of tourist attractions and public amenities. Each craft can carry up to 180 passengers each, serving up to 3 million passengers a year.
The company plans to start with around 24 return trips per day (48 lake crossings per day), with service running 365 days a year for up to 18 hours per day.
The service was initially supposed to launch in 2023, but was set back due to difficulty securing a Toronto port location. Thankfully, that’s recently been rectified as the company signed a deal with Ports Toronto that will allow Hoverlink vessels to be docked on a brand-new landing pad connected to Billy Bishop.
Right now, the service is still in its planning stages, so it’ll be about three years until launch, but it appears that people are looking forward to the faster service.
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Apart from the fast service, the green benefits are expected to be substantial. According to the company, the hovercraft will emit 98% less carbon when compared to traveling by car or bus, there’ll be no harm to marine life/shorelines, and no noise pollution.
For those who hate bumper-to-bumper traffic, Hoverlink claims that the hovercraft can take 8,000+ vehicles off the QEW daily, which could potentially revitalize the Golden Horseshoe’s tourism industry.
As of publication, we don’t know the pricing, but Hoverlink says it’ll be comparable to existing public transit options operating between Toronto and Niagara (again, just with faster transit times).
For comparison, a roundtrip between Toronto and Niagara by car would cost about $85 ($35.00 gas + $50 parking), by train it would cost about $42+, and by tour bus it would be about $90+. With the hovercraft, passengers can expect single-use fares, multi-trip fares, student fares, peak and off-peak rates and more.
Click here for more information. If you can’t wait for the hovercraft to land and you’re looking for fun things to do in the Niagara region today, this hidden-gem restaurant in wine country was named the best in the country!