London River Services is responsible for licensing and coordinating passenger services on the River Thames within London . This company started out in 1997, as the Cross River Partnership (CRP), a consortium of public and local authorities, private sector organizations, and voluntary bodies with an interest in promoting the use of the River Thames.
The CRP takes long term responsibility for developing river passenger transport in London . Among its responsibilities are procuring the new Millennium boat services, and development of new piers at Blackfriars and Waterloo to provide dedicated berths for these services. It would also acquire the public piers owned and operated by the Port of London Authority (PLA) and develop, and supervise riverboat services on the Thames whilst integrating them as much as possible into other transport modes.