Local port and tourism officials are pushing dual plans to add waterborne transit to Detroit—one proposed ferry route would even connect to Canada.
"Detroit's residents and visitors might be able to hop on a water taxi to six destinations on the Detroit River as soon as next year," reports Eric D. Lawrence. There are also preliminary plans in the works to launch ferry service between Detroit and Windsor.
The idea for the water taxi is included in a study completed in 2014 by the Detroit RiverFront Conservancy and Freshwater Transit. Currently the Detroit RiverFront Conservancy is hoping to secure $4.2 million in funding necessary to launch the service.
In related news, the Detroit/Wayne County Port Authority "are also heading up an effort to develop a ferry service between the port authority terminal in Detroit and a Windsor landing spot, most likely near Caesars Windsor casino." Because Windsor is located in Canada, customs officials on either side of the border would have to sign off on the project, and so far Lawrence reports that officials have shown reluctance toward the idea. John Loftus, executive director of the Detroit/Wayne County Port Authority, informed Lawrence that the port authority has "$2.4 million available through a grant from the Federal Highway Administration to spend either on a ferry service or to assist the conservancy with its water taxi service."
FULL STORY: Could Detroiters be hailing a water taxi soon?
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City of Albany
UCLA Lewis Center for Regional Policy Studies
Mpact (formerly Rail~Volution)
Chaddick Institute at DePaul University
City of Piedmont, CA
Great Falls Development Authority, Inc.
HUDs Office of Policy Development and Research