It's costly yes, and not without risk, but could be feasible.
As someone who taxis children around the city and suburbia on a daily basis, I love the idea of a sea-based form of transport.
While not hugely beneficial for the school run, I can see the potential for ferries to return as a local institution for commuters, weekend explorers and tourists.
Imagine the possibilities for teenagers – old enough to venture out, too young to do so in a car.
It surely has more appeal than a Hopper bus.
The biggest advantage personally is the potential for weekend or evening trips across the harbour.
A star-lit ferry ride to dinner at the Mount certainly appeals.
Meanwhile, kids spend hours travelling in the back of the car, packing their car seats with crumbs and squabbling in a confined space.
Getting them out on the water, free from seatbelts and scream matches could be just the ticket for a much more enjoyable journey.
The sailing itself is a unique experience – heck, with an icecream on board and a playground at your destination, it could be the entire outing.
A ferry commute is also a chance to connect with nature – without even having to break a sweat.
You can smell the salt air, spot a dolphin swimming or just marvel at the beauty of where you live, all without increasing your heart rate.
Ferries bring some romanticism to a city.
Ten years ago in San Francisco my husband and I pedalled over the Golden Gate Bridge to Sausalito.
The scenery was spectacular and after looking around the township we packed our bikes onto a ferry and sailed back to central San Fran.
It was a unique adventure.
Visitors to Tauranga could do similar here. Catch the ferry to Ōmokoroa and bike along the new cycleway to the city.
Catch another to the Mount and explore the shopping and beachfront via scooter.
You see so much more of a city away from the confines of a car or bus.
Things move slower, you take in more and from the water you see things from a different perspective.
An old tourist guide of the Tauranga area from the 1940s described the trip down Tauranga Harbour by ferry as one of the most interesting features of a visit, taking about half an hour from wharf to wharf.
"The harbour trip which it provides is a delightful experience giving the visitor a splendid view of Tauranga and its environs, a glimpse through the heads to the open sea and a community of interest with the hundreds of pleasure craft plying on the harbour."
At the time there were three large launches providing a year-round service. During summer there were seven trips a day, some sailing well into the night.
Prior to the highway between Tauranga and the Mount opening in 1959, the thriving ferry service was the best way to get between the two places.
But if 21st-century locals haven't experienced water transport before they may not have considered the positive impact it could add to Tauranga's transport network on both a practical and personal level – heck, even a health level.
If we're not careful the idea of the ferry service could end up where the Tauranga Museum landed following a non-binding referendum on the topic in 2018.
A 30 per cent voter turnout saw the idea of a museum canned by a cautious council.
Only this week, after the heritage collection has sat hidden for a further four years, has the council finally given the green light for the project to be added as an amendment to Tauranga City Council's Long-Term Plan.
In a victory for culture-lovers city-wide, a museum of some form is now earmarked to become part of Tauranga's new civic precinct centre.
Thankfully, by the time my children are ferry-riding teenagers, Tauranga could be all grown up as a city too.
