Just as a note for fellow travelers, the traghetto appear to have gone p in price ( at least for tourists ) instead of the 0.50€ posted in Rick Steve's it actually costs 2€ at least just north of Rialto bridge ( as of yesterday ).
One more reason to get an IMOB card.
I highly doubt that an IMOB card is valid on a traghetto. Additionally a traghetto ride is just across the canal....a much short and vastly more enjoyable mode of transportation (w/o luggage) than a vaporetto. A jump from Euro .50 to 2.00 is huge and sounds rather like a tourist rip-off.
An iMob will give you a discount. Residents and iMob holders are currently paying 0.50 euro which will go up to 0.70 euro as of January 1, 2013 while everyone else the 2 euro. Here's the link in italian.
I'm pretty sure that the IMOB card only makes sense for those who are either staying in Venice a long time OR plan to go back frequently within the five year period that it's valid. As for it being a tourist ripoff, when you factor in the toll that tourism takes on the infrastructure of the city, along with the financial problems they're facing in Italy, I don't begrudge them raising the prices for tourists. No one's forcing you to go to Venice, after all. Just my opinion. Happy travels.
Vaporetti and traghetti serve different purposes. You don't take a vaporetto to cross the channel, you don't take a traghetto for a long trip along the canal.
My IMOB comment was, (only slightly tongue in cheek) that they will get the discount and the tourist pay top dollar exactly as the current vaporetto system works. Tourists pay 7 Euro and locals (IMOB holders) pay what, 1.50 Euro.
This again is all RS fault because he points out these cheap gondola rides in his guide books, and people follow his advice. The No 1 vaporetto no longer has front seats because everyone wants them and the poor captain's knuckles were bleeding from wrapping on the windows to get people to sit down so he wouldn't run over the traghetto. I'd love to have an IMOB card because that would mean I'd be going to Venice all the time.