Impact of Tourism on Boat Transportation Systems: Analyzing the Effect of Cruise Ship Passengers in Venice

The number of tourists visiting the city of Venice every year has rapidly been increasing, verging on being unsustainable, especially during the summer months. The public transportation network has become more congested. This project investigated the impacts of tourism on the public transportation system by collecting ridership data from the popular boat stops and comparing the counts to the number of cruise ships present for each day. The project concluded that cruise ship passengers increased public boat use by a factor of 2 at the least, and a factor of 4 at the most. These data may prove essential to further understanding how tourism, as well as the extensive public boat system, might be modified to insure the continuing health and prosperity of Venice.

Final report See team website