Baltimore Water Taxi is a
water taxi
A water taxi or a water bus is a watercraft used to provide public or private transport, usually, but not always, in an urban environment. Service may be scheduled with multiple stops, operating in a similar manner to a bus, or ...
service offering sightseeing and transportation service mainly to points along the
Baltimore Inner Harbor
The Inner Harbor is a historic seaport, tourist attraction, and landmark of the city of Baltimore, Maryland. It was described by the Urban Land Institute in 2009 as "the model for post-industrial waterfront redevelopment around the world". The ...
.
History
The Baltimore Water Taxi (BWT) was founded by Edward M. Kane (1931–2003), and for many years known as ''Ed Kane's Water Taxi''. In 2010 it was sold and renamed.
While tourism is the traditional use of these taxis, there are increasing efforts to use them as commuter transportation. Here one of the barriers is getting from the dock to the office, and Ed Kane's was one of the first to offer extra ground transportation for this purpose. The city of Baltimore is encouraging this by subsidizing some new routes, some operated by Ed Kane's, but this has in turn been criticized as an inefficient use of taxpayer money.
In 2016, the Baltimore Water Taxi service was purchased by Sagamore Ventures, operated by Harbor Boating, Inc. Under the new ownership, the Baltimore Water Taxi has plans to expand transportation service to
Port Covington
Port Covington is a neighborhood in Baltimore, Maryland. Previously, Port Covington was a railroad terminal built by the Western Maryland Railway in 1904 on the Middle Branch of the Patapsco River. The terminal facilities included coal, grain an ...
in
South Baltimore.
Routes
The BWT has five taxi routes and one Harbor Connector route that circulate the
Patapsco River
The Patapsco River mainstem is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map , accessed April 1, 2011 river in central Maryland that flows into the Chesapeake Bay. The river's tidal port ...
from
Memorial Day
Memorial Day (originally known as Decoration Day) is a federal holiday in the United States for mourning the U.S. military personnel who have fought and died while serving in the United States armed forces. It is observed on the last Monda ...
to
Labor Day
Labor Day is a federal holiday in the United States celebrated on the first Monday in September to honor and recognize the American labor movement and the works and contributions of laborers to the development and achievements of the United St ...
.
*Red: Two-stop route from Harborplace to Fell's Point.
*Green: Circulates counterclockwise from Harbor East to Rusty Scupper (stopping at piers 1-5 & 7).
*Yellow: Circulates counterclockwise from Fell's Point to Tide Point (stopping at piers 4, 7, 8, 10 & 11).
*Purple: Two-stop route from Fell's Point to Fort McHenry.
*Blue: Circulates counterclockwise from Captain James Landing to Canton Waterfront Park (stopping at piers 10, 11, 14, & 16)
*Harbor Connector: Connects Maritime Park to Tide Point and Canton Waterfront Park. Runs Monday thru Friday 7:00 AM to 7:00 PM.
Stops
, the system has five taxi lines with seventeen stops throughout the Inner Harbor.
[http://media.wix.com/ugd/feb908_69a3bcffb6c74e408aae1bd790eae510.pdf ]
See also
*
Living Classrooms Foundation, was a competitor operating the Harbor Shuttle service in Baltimore's Harbor until closing after an accident in March 2004.
References
bizjournalsBaltimore Harbor: A Pictorial History
External links
Company Home PageBaltimore Sun article on water taxi status after a competitors taxi capsized
{{Baltimore Transit
Fell's Point, Baltimore
Inner Harbor, Baltimore
Water transportation in Maryland
Transportation in Baltimore
Water taxis