Drew Rollert is a man worried about traffic, even if he isn't currently isn't in it, as he cruises the Charles River on a pleasant Thursday afternoon.
He sees the Charles as the answer to Boston's traffic troubles.
"The river was the number one artery into and out of Boston. Period," he said. "There was no Mass. Pike, Storrow Drive, none of that stuff."
Rollert is hoping to soon start shuttle service from Watertown to Boston using a 40-passenger, electric, wakeless boat. His company is called Wada Hoppah.
"I would like to improve transportation in the area and I would like to make life easier for all of us, to be honest," he said.
The goal, Rollert says, is to make several stops between Watertown and Boston, all for a price less than the cost of a ride-share to the same location. The boat will start by making five roundtrip loops.
The hope is more people on the water, will mean less on the roads. The INRIX 2023 Global Traffic Scorecard ranked Boston's traffic as the fourth worst in the U.S. and eighth worst worldwide.
It's an idea the head of the Charles River Watershed Association says she can support.
"It gets people out of their cars, we have a horrible congestion problem, it gets people out on the river, which we love," said Emily Norton, executive director of the Charles River Watershed.
"We think it is a great idea, as far as I understood, electric, so not polluting," she added.
A spokesperson for the Massachusetts Department of Conservation & Recreation says it has been in talks with Rollert, but as it stands now, the company does not have a permit to offer the services he envisions.
Rollert says if all goes well, he hopes to have this boat in the water, and an app launched to accompany it, by Memorial Day 2025.
