In the eight minutes it typically takes Roy Robinson to get from the North Western train station to Michigan Avenue twice a week for business appointments, he manages a brief escape from bumper-to-bumper traffic, the sounds of the city and automobile exhaust fumes.
Blaring car horns, wailing ambulances and the pounding of jackhammers grow muted as Robinson descends a staircase outside the station and boards a boat that will carry him to his destination.
He watches sunlight and shadows playing over the Chicago River, admires the skyscrapers, feels a breeze or listens to the water lapping gently against a dock.
About a year ago, the impending Wacker Drive re-construction project prompted Robinson, who works for a railroad labor relations organization, to turn to water transportation to get from his office near Wacker Drive to another he frequently visits on Rush Street.
Robinson looks forward to these cross-city trips.
“I like the ambience. It’s better than being in a cab,” said Robinson of Crete.
Whether they are called river buses, water taxis or water shuttles, many cities, including Chicago, are looking at ways to expand ridership, particularly among people who live or work in downtown business districts.
In Chicago, for instance, Wendella Sightseeing, operators of one river-bus service, plans to add a new bus to its fleet in September. It is being partially funded by a federal grant, will have capacity for 107 passengers and cost $685,000 to build.
The boat will be heated so it can operate longer than the traditional May to September season, possibly until late October or November.
Craig Wenokur, vice president of marketing for Wendella, said ridership has increased greatly on their river buses, largely because of the Wacker Drive reconstruction project, which is expected to take another year to complete.
“What’s so terrible about the Wacker Drive project?” said Wenokur with a laugh. “We’ve seen an increase [in ridership] from the minute it started [in February]. It’s like a switch went on and people said, `There’s another way to get around–it’s on water.'”
Daily ridership on the river buses is 2,500 today, up from around 2,000 in 1999, when the all-day river-bus was added, 200 in 1998, when only rush-hour service was provided, he said. The company has one river bus that carries 74 passengers and uses two sightseeing boats that carry 109 and 130 passengers, respectively, in morning and evening rush hours.
“A few years ago, it was a quaint little service with a little group of about 200 [users],” he said. “We knew most of their faces. Today, it’s a legitimate form of commuting.”
With a new boat in the works, Wenokur sees a vital future for water transit, as do officials in other waterside cities.
“Water transportation is exploding all over,” Wenokur said. “Peoples’ commutes are getting longer. The roads are saturated. People are looking to their waterways. A lot of communities have these waterways–these pre-made roads, if you will–running right through them.”
“It’s a good use of the water system. It showcases the city in a way that most people don’t see it. We expect it will become more popular as more people try it,” said Connie Buscemi, a spokesman for Chicago’s Consumer Services Division, which licenses the river buses.
In Baltimore, the Maryland Transportation Authority embarked on a program this summer that allows bus and subway riders with weekly and monthly passes to use them on the Baltimore Water Taxi system.
“It’s a pilot program. People can just flash their passes and board our boats,” said Ed Kane, owner of the taxi service, which has 13 boats. About 3,000 people used their transit passes on the water taxi in the first two months.
“As cities evaluate traffic patterns, it’s just logical to look at waterways [for public transportation] if you’re fortunate enough to have one,” said Tony White, a spokesman for the City of Baltimore, which sits on the Chesapeake Bay.
Seattle began a water-taxi service in 1998 on Elliott Bay. In the first year, it averaged 375 trips a day. In the second, it provided about 500, said Mike Beck, contract administrator for King County Metro Transportation System, which oversees the service.
In 2001, he said, the taxi service has increased to an average of about 1,000 trips a day and its season will go to year-long from its previous May to September schedule.
“The ridership has really taken off. Now we’re wanting to see if people will use it in mid-winter,” he said. The county is considering making the service permanent but would have to build a dock in a West Seattle park, he added.
Beck echoes Wenokur on the reasons for the growing use of water taxis.
“We’re being impacted by growth in our region,” Beck said. “Traffic and congestion are getting worse. We’re looking at any solutions that can help with our traffic.”
In Boston, water shuttles carry about 250,000 passengers a year from Logan Airport to the business district and back, said Georgeane Tacelli, a spokeswoman for Massport.
In St. Louis, Louis Hamilton, chairman of the Missouri Tourism Bureau, said commuter transit on the Missouri River is being considered.
Such a service, he said, has potential for operating between the city’s western suburbs and might travel as far as Kansas City.
“That’s where we’ve got a lot of growth and traffic,” he said.
In Chicago, fears that river buses and water taxis would draw passengers from other forms of public transportation have not proved true, said Tom Murtha, chief transportation planner for Chicago Area Transportation Study.
Instead, Murtha said a study he recently conducted found that “it acted as an inducement for people to ride Metra. It was regarded as an amenity–a pleasant trip–that encouraged more people to ride the train.”
Wendella’s river buses stop outside the North Western Station, at Michigan Avenue near the Wrigley Building and at 455 E. Illinois St. in the River North area.
“We get two kinds of passengers,” said Wenokur. “The guy who came in on the train and wants to get to his office and the family from Schaumburg who wants to get around the city, but doesn’t want to park their car.”
Murtha and Wenokur said there are no plans for Wendella to add stops.
Shoreline Water Taxi also operates a water taxi service on the Chicago River and Lake Michigan. Its emphasis has been on tourists, but the company is interested in commuters, said Matt Callopy, vice president of Shoreline.
“We’re slowly seeing more and more people using it [for commuting], especially with the Wacker Drive project,” said Callopy.
Shoreline operates between 200 S. Wacker Drive, Navy Pier and the Shedd Aquarium.
The changing populations and landscape of urban areas also have contributed to growth in water transit, he said.
“More and more people are living in the city center,” he said. “And they realize they can give this guy [on the boat] a few dollars, get on the river and off they go.”
A round trip on Wendella’s river bus costs $4; an all-day pass on Shoreline’s water taxi is $12.
Callopy said the water taxis also appeal to folks out for a night on the town.
Murtha cites the improved water quality of the Chicago River.
“The image of the river is improving and more people are willing to travel it,” he said.
Businesses and the city have spruced up properties and structures visible from the waterway.
“There’s everything on the river–from landscaping and planters to art and lights on bridges,” Murtha said.
Cheryl Crockett and her son, Eric, 14, recently hopped on a Shoreline water taxi to travel from the Museum Campus to Navy Pier and Wacker Drive.
“It gave us a different perspective of the city,” said Crockett, of Charleston, W.Va. “It wasn’t like seeing it from the street or from a car.”
“It beats walking around the city,” added Eric.
Times and places
Wendella
When: Every 9 minutes from 6:30 to 9:30 a.m. and 4:07 to 7:23 p.m. Monday through Friday and every 20 minutes from 9:30 a.m. to 4:07 p.m. Weekend buses run hourly between Madison Street and Michigan Avenue from 9:45 a.m. to 6:31 p.m. The buses are scheduled to run through October.
Where: The buses stop at Madison Street, Michigan Avenue and River East Plaza.
Cost: $2 for a single ticket, $12 for a 10-ride and $36 for a monthly pass
Shoreline
When: Every 20 minutes from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily through Saturday.
Where: The water taxis stop at Madison Street, Navy Pier and Shedd Aquarium.
Cost: One way–$6 for adults, $5 for seniors and $3 for children younger than 12; Day-long pass–$12 for adults, $10 for seniors and $6 for children younger than 12.
— Sources: Wendella Boats and Shoreline Sightseeing
