Boat Traffic Data Collection

Dating back to 1991, the Venice Project Center has been collecting data on boat traffic and analyzing its effects on canal walls. Actually, the VPC was the first organization to count boats and collect data on the traffic in Venice. Many VPC projects have continued to research boat traffic and its effect on the city. In 2006, the VPC re-engineered the taxi system which accounts for 25% of Venetian traffic. They found that the taxi’s do not have passengers over 50% of the time their motors are running. Therefore, they designed a system that would have the taxis move to closer locations after they drop off a customer. This would create less unneeded wake for the city of Venice. Additionally, they created prototypes of possible boat hulls that would be better suited for the low speeds of the Venice canals and create smaller wakes.