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Bob Bekoff tried to retire. After 20 years of running a forklift business, he officially did so, planning to spend more time boating and fishing. "That lasted for 15 months," says Bekoff. "And I couldn't stand it."

So Bekoff went back to work, first as a salesman for Richard Bertram Yachts. Then he figured what to do with his love of boats. In October 1988, he started a water taxi service along the Intracoastal Waterway and New River in Fort Lauderdale.

Four other companies started similar on-call water taxi services that same month. Two disappeared almost immediately, and Bekoff bought out the other the following year. Today, his Water Taxi company operates a fleet of 8 water "buses" and 10 water "taxis," and is officially part of the Broward County transit system. Bekoff has sold his own boat, and gets his marine fix from the business.

For the first 12 years of its life, Water Taxi functioned as recreational transport: Fort Lauderdale visitors and residents would call Water Taxi, and a boat would pick them up in the backyard of their hotel or home. By 1999, the business had grown to 17 boats, fielding 800 calls per day. Operating the on-call business was complex, though. Because it was a shared-ride service, users never knew quite how long it would take to get to their destination. So, after nine years, Bekoff started experimenting with the idea of providing a fixed route with a lower fare -- a bus service rather than a taxi company.

In January 2000, Water Taxi became a completely scheduled service, with a shortened route (it had once gone as far north as the Broward County line). "We had some doubt about it," says Bekoff. "But all that happened was that ridership took a big jump." It turned out that riders' biggest concern was not getting a water taxi to their backyards, but knowing the service was reliable, and fast.

A problem remained: the cost of a ride had risen over the years from $2.50 for a one-way ticket to $16 for an all-day pass. "The rates kept going higher and higher and our ridership became stagnant," Bekoff says. "Our revenues grew, but with fewer people. I said, 'This is great. If we keep going, we can put ourselves out of business,"'

Bekoff had been turned down once for a federal alternative transportation grant. He tried again, and with the aid of Broward County Congressman E. Clay Shaw, in late 2000 got $2.1 million from a federal transportation bill. That paid for eight bio-diesel-fueled, 72-passenger, air-conditioned water "buses" and three handicap-accessible landings. The renamed Water Bus service became part of Broward County's transit system, and Water Taxi (still the company name) started receiving an operating subsidy from the federal government in November of 2001. Bekoff lowered day-pass rates from $16 to $5, and increased service levels by 40 percent; increased rider-ship more than compensated for the lower fares.

Today the water taxis are used only as a backup for the water buses, and for chartered service. Ridership, meanwhile, has risen 135 percent from 2000 levels to 2,000 passengers per day. The ridership is also evenly split between tourists and locals. In fact, so many workers on Fort Lauderdale beach use the water buses to commute that Bekoff is planning to begin service earlier (hours are 9 am to 12:30 am) in order to snag downtown commuters. To that end, he will soon add two more water buses to his fleet.

That is one way Bekoff intends to solve his biggest challenge: to increase rider-ship. About 40 percent of the company's operating expenses still come from the government subsidy, which expires in two years. Besides adding more commuters, Bekoff has several marketing programs underway, including a Riverwalk A&E Arts Passport, which combines admissions to Fort Lauderdale's cultural institutions, a 50-percent discount on same-day shows at Broward Center for the Performing Arts and a three-day pass for the Water Bus service. He has also begun to contract with convention planners to supply package transportation deals.

Says Bekoff of his service: "You can go to the theater and you can go to dinner just about any place, but how many places can you go to dinner and the theater by boat?"