MUMBAI: If all goes as planned, this October , Mumbaikars would be able to use speedboat taxis to commute between south Mumbai and the distant suburbs in half the time they take currently by road and local trains.Maharashtra Maritime Board (MMB), Cidco, MbPT, the transport department and JNPT have decided to buy five speedboats at the cost of Rs 35 crore, or Rs 7 crore each, to ferry commuters.According to sources, the services will be run between the domestic cruise terminal at MbPT and destinations such as Mandwa near Alibaug, Thane and Belapur in just 30 minutes.MbPT chairman Sanjay Bhatia said all equity partners have empowered Shipping Corporation of India (SCI) on how to go about the selection of speedboats. “Officially, SCI is our consultant for buying the speedboats. Tenders will be floated according to their specifications,” he said.Commuter potential on the routes, the nature of the coastal area, the depth available near jetties, safety and other factors will decide the quality and cost of these boat taxis. Each of these boat taxis will have a minimum capacity of 20 passengers.The destinations could include Thane, Airoli, Vashi, Nerul, Belapur, the upcoming airport in Panvel, JNPT, Mandwa, Karanja and Kanhojee Angre, among others. “The jetties at these places are mostly ready. Floating jetties can be arranged wherever necessary,” said sources.The fare system for these boat taxis will be akin to the existing road taxis. “If a commuter currently travels between Fort and Belapur in Navi Mumbai by spending around Rs 550 one way, a similar fare will be charged for the speeboat taxis. However, the speed of these taxis will virtually bring down travel time to 30-40 minutes against around an hour and a half by road taxis,” an official said.“These will be like state transport boat taxis. The channels to run these taxis along the coast will be well-defined so that there is no hurdle in operating them,” a source said.It may be recalled that MbPT, MMB, JNTP, Cidco and the transport department are in the process of jointly buying a roll-on and roll-off (RoRo) passenger service ship which will reduce two to three hours of car or bus journey to Alibaug from south Mumbai to 45 minutes to an hour and substantially save fuel and ticketing expenses. In RoRo services, one can load 40 cars and 10 buses on a ship along with passengers. The cost of the ship will be Rs 40 crore. Eventually, services will be extended to Nerul and the upcoming airport between Panvel and Belapur as and when the jetties with 3-metre depth for ship berthing get ready.