Amphibious Taxi debuts in Osaka

According to an article titled “Japan’s first Amphibious Taxi begins operation in Osaka in 2008 [jp]”:

Japan’s first amphibious sightseeing taxi with screw will start operating in Osaka from early 2008.

While DMV (Dual Mode Vehicles) in Hokkaido runs on street and railroad, this new breed of taxi in Osaka runs on land and water.

One of their operators is a NPO that seeks to revitalize “Water City Osaka”, and the amphibious taxi is a measure to attain the goal.

The car used for the service is about-4.7-meter-long recreational vehicles (RV) manufactured in Germany. The bottom of the car is sealed completely so that it can float on water. The maximum speed is 140km/h on land and 15km/h on water.

The seating capacity is 5 person including 2 drivers (one for land and the other for water), so the maximum number of passengers is 3. The service amphibious taxi will be provided from two organizations depending on either land or water operation.

Planned tours include the one that goes into Okawa Rive using a slope and runs around the Kema Sakuranomiya Park (Miyakojima-ku and Kita-ku, Osaka).

It seems a fun ride. I‘d like to try…

You can see the picture of the "water taxi" on the NPO website.

It sinks deeper than I thought. Door is open!

And there are not only amphibious taxi…

… but amphibious bus, too! The bus tour is called "Osaka Duck Tour". I feel like flying to Osaka!