Idea for commuter hovercraft service from Niagara to Toronto being floated

TORONTO — A proposal for a hovercraft service across Lake Ontario made progress in the Niagara Region this week, but may be dead in the water in Toronto.

Beamsville, Ont., resident Bruno Caciagli has been pitching the service that would operate between St. Catharines, Ont., nearby Niagara-on-theLake and Toronto as a way to help travellers beat traffic. This week, his plan for a daily service across the lake received approval in principle from St. Catharines’ city council.

Caciagli reckons that his maiden voyage could be as soon as nine months from now, but his company, Lake Ontario Express, would need to get approval from Toronto and the federal government, and Toronto’s ports authority has some concerns.

St. Catharines Coun. Carlos Garcia says that using a hovercraft instead of a traditional boat changes the situation.

“The hovercraft is much more flexible because it can crawl up on land and doesn’t need docking facilities as other vessels do,” said Garcia. The hovercraft is also able to traverse ice during the winter, and doesn’t create a large wake in the water like larger ferries.

The idea has been met with a mix of enthusiasm and skepticism in Toronto’s municipal authorities. PortsToronto said it has no current plans to proceed with the hovercraft service due to noise concerns. However, Caciagli says that the hovercraft would only create as much noise as an idling semi truck.

Caciagli says he’ll continue to push forward with the plan despite the roadblock with PortsToronto. He says he’d also consider nearby alternate ports, if need be.