Traffic is a nationwide issue, but in true Boston fashion of winning everything, we claim the title for the worst traffic in a major American city…and at one point, among the worst traffic in the world.
The average American spends 50 hours a year in traffic, while the average Bostonian spends 134 hours a year in traffic. That’s almost fix whole days! Imagine 6 additional days of PTO instead of SOTP (stuck on the Pike).
The WadaHoppa offers a solution, one that’s been right under our noses this whole time.
The Charles River.
Or, more specifically, utilizing the Charles River as a vessel for transportation, rather than it’s crowded neighbors, Memorial and Storrow Drives.
So what is a WadaHoppah?
WadaHoppah is “the first all electric, emissions free, wakeless, water shuttle for the Charles River and the United States.”
“So it’s a boat?”
Not exactly. In order to comply with local regulations, there are city functionalities that separate a WadaHoppah from a regular engine or even MBTA ferry. Not to disturb the regular rowers, kayakers, and boaters of the Charles, a special boat needed to be built, with one goal in mind—offer public transit from Watertown Square all the way to Beacon Hill.
Will it solve our traffic problems?
Bostonians are cynical by nature. But this electric boat service on the Charles was first introduced as a possibility in 1894 by Charles Eliot, but overlooked and dismissed for centuries. Now, WadaHoppah Founder Drew Rollert wants to bring it back, stating, “one electric water shuttle can remove 400-640 cars a day from our roads and save 1.2 tons of C02 from our air daily.” Imagine what a few of these boats would do for our traffic!
The WadaHoppah proposes 11 accessible dock stops across the Charles River, on both the Boston and Cambridge sides.
The boat itself measures 59′ x 13′ with two restrooms and a capacity of 40 per boat. The boats are currently being built in Concord, Massachusetts.
How fast does it travel?
From it’s origin stop in Watertown to the Hatch Shell is an estimated 67-minute trip. Without traffic by car, that’s about a 30-minute trip and by T, about 50 minutes. Intercity trips from Kenmore to Back Bay could take as little as 3 minutes. The boat itself will travel speeds of 6-10 mph.
When will WadaHoppah launch?
Other cities have been pushing electric water transit, with San Francisco testing hybrid boat transit earlier this summer. The WadaHoppah intended to launch this past summer but still is cranking out details of the boat while petitioning for regulations to allow.
If you’d like to see this in your future, hoppah on the bandwagon and pre-register online.