Vaporetto

A vaporetto is a water taxi or waterbus in Venice, Italy. There are 19 scheduled lines that serve locales within Venice, and travel between Venice and nearby islands, e.g., Murano and Lido.

The name, vaporetto, could be translated as "little steamer", and refers to similarly purposed ships in the past that were run by steam. The natives call the vaporetto Batèo. The waterbus line is operated by Azienda del Consorzio Trasporti Veneziano (Actv), the Venetian public transportation system. The system is necessary in Venice as the deep canals prohibit the building of underground railways, and there is no space for overground trains, leaving the canals as the only viable rapid transport system. Most vaporetti have disabled access.