Press Release ...........
Department of Transportation Launches New
Fare Free Water Taxi Service!
Baltimore, MD. (May 1, 2009) - The Baltimore City Department of Transportation today announced the launch of the first leg of a coordinated land and water downtown circulator cost free service featuring a cross-harbor water taxi for commuters, residents, and tourists.
The “Water Taxi Harbor Connector” will begin service on Monday, May 4th between the water taxi dock at Frederick Douglass-Isaac-Myers Maritime Museum (Maritime Park) in Fells Point and the Tide Point Pier in South Baltimore. This fare free service will operate approximately every fifteen minutes from 7:00 AM to 7:00 PM, Monday through Friday.
“I am very excited to launch this service as a benefit to the residents of our waterfront neighborhoods,” said Mayor Sheila Dixon. “This service is one more tool to reduce traffic congestion in and around downtown, promote alternative transportation methods, and continue to make Baltimore a cleaner and greener city,”
Coupled with the new downtown circulator which begins operations in late summer, the “Water Taxi Harbor Connector” will provide a direct link to upper Fells Point, the Johns Hopkins Medical Center, Penn Station, The University of Maryland Medical Center, fringe parking areas, and other transportation hubs, landmarks and attractions in and around the Central Business District (CBD).
The Water Taxi Harbor Connector will operate on a “ping-pong” basis with no intermediate stops. A second “Water Taxi Harbor Connector” route is planned to begin operations in late summer providing service, between Canton Water Front Park and Tide Point.
In conjunction with deployment of the new downtown circulator, which will be unveiled in June, the Water Taxi Harbor Connector will present those potential passengers traveling to, from, and between Tide Point, Canton, and Fells Point the opportunity to tie into the downtown circulator routes.
Al Foxx, Director of the Department of Transportation stated, “The integration of the “Water Taxi Harbor Connector” into downtown circulator operations reflects the City’s effort to provide service opportunities to those areas on the fringes of the CBD that would otherwise be un-serviced.”
Route 1, beginning May 4, 2009, is the Maritime Park route which runs between Tide Point and Maritime Park. This service will operate year round 5 days per week (Monday-Friday) from 7:00 a.m. – 7:00 p.m. with a headway of approximately 15 minutes.
Route 2, beginning later this summer, is the Canton Route which runs from the Canton Water Front Park to Tide Point. This service will also run year-round, 5 days per week (Monday-Friday) from 7:00 a.m. – 7:00 p.m. with a headway of approximately 25 minutes.
Both services will operate on a FARE FREE basis. The service boats, which are certified by the U.S. Coast Guard for sheltered inland operations, will have a capacity of 24-26 passengers, and will be climate controlled.
Additional information can be found on-line at www.baltimorecity.gov/government/transportation and at www.thewatertaxi.com
The Department of Transportation is committed to “Keeping Baltimore moving safely now and in the future.”
City Press Release ...........
