Channel Cat Water Taxi boats removed from river for winter maintenance

EAST MOLINE, Ill. (KWQC) - The Channel Cat Water Taxi service has officially concluded its 2023 season. This morning, the boats were removed from the Mississippi river, escorted by a Rock Island County Deputy, and transported to the Operations and Maintenance Center for the winter.

“They perform a variety of different preventative maintenance activities; they might pull it out drive or do a number of other things to make sure those boats are ready to go. They are able to tackle issues that maybe they couldn’t get to while the boats were in the water so really just spending the winter making sure everything is in tip top shape, so once we hit the water next season we are ready to go,” said Jennifer Hirsch, QC MetroLINK’s Manager of Administration.

The Water Taxi service’s last operating day for the year was on October 22nd, and it’s set to resume operations on Memorial Day weekend in 2024. Officials are celebrating a successful season, having served over 41,000 passengers, marking their highest ridership since 2018.

Hirsch explained that the great weather we had throughout this summer helped bring more people on board.

“We were out there every day providing that seven-day-a-week service and it was a beautiful summer. People wanted to see the bridge we still had, you know lots of bridge activity going on with both bridges still up, so it was kind of like the last chance for people to take a ride under both that new bridge and that I-74 bridge.”

The Channel Cat Water Taxi operates three open-air passenger ferryboats on the Mississippi River. Service is generally provided from Memorial Day weekend through Labor Day, with additional weekend service through October depending on the weather.

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