Water Taxi

Just out of curiosity, if this or another river taxi allowed bikes on board, does anyone think they would use it regularly?

Comments

[locus]

I thought I'd heard of people taking the boat to Mt. Vernon w/ their bikes, but I could be wrong.

[darren]

Yep. I live near the airport and work near the ballpark, so this might be a better option on non-riding days than metro for me, doubly so if they do allow bikes.

[SJE]

Definitely, but depending on the price. The current boat going from G'town to Alexandria is Tues-Sun $26 RT: tourist prices, not commuter prices.

[Doompatrol]

Nope, wouldn't even think of using it. By the time you factor in wait time at the dock, boats will almost always be slower than just pedaling to the destination. Boats are also horribly inefficient and maintenance is expensive. Unless they're hugely subsidized (which I could see happening, given the current climate in the USA), water taxis will always be spendy.

[Just161]

Nah, I probably wouldn't take it. Most of the stops are near pretty good bike infrastructure already (Mt. Vernon Trail, e.g).

The Nationals Park route might be useful, though - trying to go from National Park, or anywhere in SW, to the west or any of the bridges, is difficult to do on a bike - Maine Ave is pretty inhospitable in my opinion.

[Mark Wyatt]

http://www.qcchannelcat.com/

On the bottom of the page, Bikes Welcome. I think they even have a bike rack on board. If it can happen in Iowa, why not DC?

[Paul]

It's only 6 miles from DC to Old Town Alexandria via Mt. Vernon. If you can't do that in the time that it takes you to go to a dock, buy a ticket, wait, load and unload your bike, you fail.

[Catherine]

I'm not an expert on the subject but I believe that currently the Potomac River Boat Co. (http://www.potomacriverboatco.com/)
is the only company running water taxis. They only allow bikes on the Old Town/Mount Vernon route, and that's the Coast Guard's decision based on the type of boat they have, not the company's.

This new company you've linked to hopefully will be able to allow bikes on board.

I know about the Potomac River Boat Co. because I just called them about this matter last week. I live in Old Town and want to be able to meet up with people at National Harbor. I can ride my bike there, but the bike trail over the WW Bridge is closed at, what? 10?

I could water taxi it both directions, of course, but riding the bike would save me money. I'd really just like to have options, you know?

[Susan Schneider]

Well if you ask me, the curfew for riding the bridge is ridiculous and we should not tolerate this.I will very soon promote the Virginia Bicycle Federation in this area, an advocacy group for the State of Virginia, which by the way includes Northern Virginia (which is not DC)

[Michael H.]

Probably not.

[Scott]

Not that I ride the bridge after ten but I can see why they do it. There is a bridge lifting at ten on saturday, sunday and federal holidays, if it needs to be lifted. It's dark and I bet the bridge tender can't see the path. There is a number for the bridge tender on the ww bridge website.