America’s Most Underrated Boat Is the Water Taxi

WINTER ISSUE · THE AMERICAS · CITIES

It has no lobby, no gate and no boarding pass. It is slower than a car and faster than traffic. And in a handful of American cities, it has quietly become the best way to see the place you live.

In short: A water taxi is a small passenger boat that runs short hops between waterfront stops, either on a loop or on demand. In the US, cities such as Fort Lauderdale, Baltimore, Chicago and New York use water taxis and ferries as transport and as attractions in their own right. For travelers they are the cheapest way onto the water; for independent operators they are one of the most accessible boat businesses to start.

What is a water taxi, and how is it different from a ferry?

We have covered the basics in our guide to what a water taxi is, what it costs and when it beats a ferry. The short version: a ferry moves volume on a fixed timetable between two or three points; a water taxi moves fewer people between more stops, often with a hop-on, hop-off ticket or a private booking. The ferry is infrastructure. The water taxi is closer to a conversation with the city.

A bridge shows you a city from above. A water taxi shows you the city as its founders first saw it: from the water, looking in.

Which American cities use water taxis?

Picture the guy who has lived in Baltimore for ten years and never once seen Fells Point from the harbour. Then a visiting friend insists on the water taxi, and in twenty minutes he understands his own city’s geography better than a decade of driving taught him. That small revelation is the product.

• Fort Lauderdale, Florida: the city of canals runs a water taxi along the New River and the Intracoastal, part transport, part sightseeing.
• Baltimore, Maryland: the Inner Harbor water taxis link neighbourhoods such as Fells Point, Harbor East and Canton.
• Chicago, Illinois: yellow water taxis on the Chicago River connect downtown with Chinatown and the lakefront in season.
• New York City: NYC Ferry and private water taxis serve the East River, Brooklyn and the harbour, with skyline views included at no extra charge.

Each city arrived at the same conclusion from a different direction. Waterfronts that were once industrial became residential and recreational, roads got more congested, and the water turned out to be the one corridor nobody had to build.

Why are water taxis having a moment?

Charles Duhigg would call it a cue hiding in plain sight. Two trends meet at the dock. The first is the late, short booking we described in The Late Bookers: people want an hour on the water this afternoon, not a week next year. The second is the waterfront restaurant, bar and hotel economy, which wants guests to arrive by boat because arriving by boat is the experience.

Can you start a water taxi business?

Michael Lewis’s best characters are people who saw a market before it had a name. The independent water taxi operator is one. Licensing, insurance and local permits are real requirements, and carrying paying passengers in the US generally means a Coast Guard credential. But the boat itself can be modest, the routes can start small, and private hires for restaurants and events can fill the gaps between scheduled runs. Our guide to becoming a water taxi operator in the US covers the licence path step by step.

The city, seen from the right side

Americans tend to think of boats as weekend luxuries and of transport as something with wheels. The water taxi sits in the gap between those ideas, which is why it keeps being underestimated. It is the least glamorous boat in the harbour and, for most people, the first one they ever step onto. That is not a small thing. It is where every love of the water begins.