Charles River water taxi

GW2500

GW2500

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I've been thinking about this recently, and I think it might be a good idea. You could have long narrow boats shuttling people up and down the Charles. It would be a good lateral movement in the public transportation options. The boat could be enclosed, to keep it relevant in the winter.

The two main issues I came accross would be wakes caused and ice in the winter. As for the wake, would a few boats going up and down the river cause a too much disruption, or could a river of this size somewhat absorb them? Are there boats designed to minimize wakes? And for the ice, is this ice very thick, or could a decent size boat be able to plow right through?
 
Focus on improving the existing water taxi in the harbor, if you ask me. It's a very good idea though - only problem is, there aren't many hubs just begging for transit along the banks of the Charles. Most stops are serviced by the T and are a block or two inland.
 
^^Oh, you are just being a sailing NIMBY! ;)
 
kennedy said:
Focus on improving the existing water taxi in the harbor, if you ask me. It's a very good idea though - only problem is, there aren't many hubs just begging for transit along the banks of the Charles. Most stops are serviced by the T and are a block or two inland.
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Was just going to say practically the same thing.

IMO, ferries to Rowes/Long Wharf should have a little centralized hub with free transfer to Blue Line. There's also one that goes to Lovejoy Wharf I think, which is right at the Garden, that should have better access to North Station.



As for the Charles, I think the route with most potential traffic would be something like Lechmere to Kenmore and would probably be drastically faster than the Green Line. But transfers present problems. Kenmore to Harvard Sq might have potential, but still, you're a couple blocks away as said. Kendall has the best chance of easy, or even free, transfers because of Broad Canal, but I can only see Kendal to Kenmore and I just have a feeling there'd be less traffic than Lechmere to Kenmore.



Oh, and one more thing, do we have any car ferries AT ALL? I wonder how many Salem residents would be interested in a no-traffic commute? Though, I rather see less car dependence.
 
I definatley agree, that harbor taxi should be expanded, really water transportation as a whole is underutilized. And yes, I didn't think about that, but the parks huging the river would be a bit of a barrier, but a few places mentioned above could be solid. I think it could go up to Harvard Sq, b/c you go one block in from the water and your in it.
 
I don't think Lovejoy Wharf has ferry service anymore (just water taxis)

Not sure if Lechmere to Kenmore via ferry would be drastically faster than the Green Line. Right now it takes about 25 minutes to make the trip (including the transfer from the E to a line serving Kenmore). As you note, the waterside access to Kenmore is not direct. Do you see this being an on-call service or scheduled? (If the latter, I doubt you could make a case for operating it as frequently as the Green Line, which would further cut into the time savings).

What is the ultimate destination of the Salem-based users of a car ferry to Boston? If its Boston, why do they need the car at all?
 
The problem is that it doesn't really make sense to have water taxis on the Charles. It makes sense to have them on the harbor because they can travel much faster and farther, thus justifying the cost. But the distances along the river are so short that it would just make sense financially and time wise to bike/drive/bus/subway it.
 
Yea, I suppose your right, but if it were mainly just an express line it might be really attractive. Kenmore to Lechmere or Kendal via the Charles is a straight shot, on the green line that can be ok (best case senario) and an hour long nightmare worst case. Another destination that could maybe work would be Medford sq to Wellington via Mystic.
 
London's river transit system (Thames clippers) costs twice what the subway does, and, for most trips other than a very specific few, gets you there slower. While living in London I only used it to take touristing friends sightseeing without having to descend below ground.

That said, there are certain Boston neighborhoods further inland that could use it as a commuting option - north Allston and Watertown Square come to mind. Maybe even Waltham, although I doubt it could get you downtown from there faster than the commuter rail.

Possible route: Science Park (I think this makes more sense than Lechmere as it's walking distance to North Station), Kendall, MIT @ Mass Ave, Kenmore @ Deerfield, Harvard @ JFK, North Allston @ Telford St, North Beacon (maybe a park and ride near the IHOP there?) and then finally Watertown Square. The entire route (8 miles along the river) would probably take under an hour.
 
Shepard said:
Possible route: Science Park (I think this makes more sense than Lechmere as it's walking distance to North Station), Kendall, MIT @ Mass Ave, Kenmore @ Deerfield, Harvard @ JFK, North Allston @ Telford St, North Beacon (maybe a park and ride near the IHOP there?) and then finally Watertown Square. The entire route (8 miles along the river) would probably take under an hour.
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At at that point it would just make more sense to drive.
 
There's a dam in Watertown which I think makes navigation to Waltham impossible.
 
A lot of the route proposed in Cambridge is already covered by the EZRide Bus system (public bus route subsidized by the nearby pharmaceutic companies and MIT). It is actually pretty nice with brand new low floor CNG buses.

I think the nature of the river precludes fast boat traffic. Anyone know what the "speed limit" on the river is?


 
Is that bus system popular? DMUs along the Grand Junction to North Station would easily fill that niche.
 
It seems popular in the sense that if you work for one Cambridge pharma companies you're aware of it. Their figures indicate 300,000 riders in 2008.
However, I don't think the public is aware that they can ride it for a dollar.

I agree that the grand junction should have some sort of shuttle train if not full light rail.

Back to the water, Charles River Kayak opened up a new rental place on the Broad Canal so you can now rent a kayak from their Allston rental place and paddle to Kendall. The future of river commuting?
 
A commuter boat system would have to avoid interfering with the basin's long-established uses for rowing and sailing (both recreationally and by the adjoining universities)
 
statler said:
^^Oh, you are just being a sailing NIMBY! ;)
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You caught me - those Tech Dinghies are tipsy and we don't want any more damn white trash motorboat wakes screwing up our VMG!
 
vanshnookenraggen said:
At at that point [1 hr from watertown to Lechmere] it would just make more sense to drive.
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Not sure if that's true... people still take the B line from BC to government center. And anyway, I'm guessing the old A line from Watertown to downtown would have been about an hour as well, give or take.
 
"F2 - Quincy-Boston_Logan (10:00am ib) trip from Quincy canceled due to LNG tanker in Boston Harbor 4/28/2010 9:22 AM"

lol
 
I think your harbor routes are more viable than your river ones b/c they can serve travel patterns that are both unwalkable/unbikeable and also poorly served by transit.

Chelsea: Your proposed location would serve the neighborhood much better than past efforts to run boat service out of the dock at the bottom of Admiral's Hill. The closer you could get the downtown end of the route to South Station, the better I think.

Eastie: Since even a ferry out of Central Square would be in competition with the Blue Line, I think you would want to bring the downtown end of that route closer to South Station as well. Having it serve Long Wharf means you've provided a comparable trip for everyone who lives as close to Central Square as they do to Maverick, and are also destined for the Long Wharf area. For everyone else destined for other parts of downtown or other rapid transit lines, a Central Sq-Long Wharf ferry would not be competitive with the Blue Line. Providing a connection to the Red Line at South Station and that end of the Financial Dist would start to increase the size of the market I think.

Winthrop: Maybe shift the Winthrop dock 1/4 mile west so it serves a larger walk in market and provides decent access to Winthrop center?
 
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