Other means of transportation include two water taxis that will run every 30 minutes from Alexandria, Va. starting April 1, a bus service from the Southern Avenue Metro stop, and taxicab and shuttle bus companies.
Potomac Riverboat Company, of Alexandria, Va., recently purchased two 99-seat vessels to offer water taxi rides to the complex. The boats will depart from Gaylord’s marina for Alexandria every half-hour. Potomac Riverboat Company vice president Charlotte Hall said the vessels will dock at Gaylord’s marina until May 1, then begin alternating between the Gaylord and National Harbor marinas. Unless the river freezes in the winter, Hall said the water taxis will operate year-round. Passengers will be charged $7 one-way and $14 round-trip.
The company also will offer daily trips to Mount Vernon, Va. for $34 round-trip, and to Georgetown for $28 round-trip.
Metro spokeswoman Cathy Asato said the fare for the Metro bus service, which started Sunday, will be $1.35, or $1.25 with a SmarTrip card. The Southern Avenue stop is closest to National Harbor. The bus runs from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily, with stops at Indian Head Highway, the Oxon Hill Park & Ride Lot and the intersection of St. George Boulevard and Waterfront Street on National Harbor grounds.
The Maryland Department of Transportation invested $1.2 million in the service, Asato said.
Taxicab rides are also available. National Harbor will maintain a staging area for cabs near the northern entrance. A dispatch system will work on a first-come, first-served basis to control cab congestion on the harbor’s streets.
Drivers participating must obtain a free, National Harbor hanging tag, a GPS dispatch terminal supplied by Taxi-Taxi — the county’s largest, private dispatch service — and a credit card processing device, said Kent Digby, National Harbor’s vice president of operations. A $1 fee per fare will be assessed to offset the cost of the program, Digby said. Independent cab companies can also operate within National Harbor and not use the staging area.
‘‘We tried to set up a system that is fair for the taxicab industry,” Digby said. ‘‘The staging area is a terrific program designed to eliminate some of the congestion.”
Every taxi driver who picks up passengers must have a valid, county-issued taxicab operating license, said Tom Matzen, deputy director of the county Department of Environmental Resources. In accordance with county code, vehicles must also be roadworthy and safe.
‘‘National Harbor is telling the taxi drivers that they want to present a positive image,” Matzen said. ‘‘But my understanding [is that] If someone comes in with a beat up taxi that looks like it is unsafe, National Harbor would file a complaint with us.
‘‘We’re going to be watching very closely to see if any violations of county law occur, and if there is, we will act on it immediately.”
E-mail Andy MacAlpine at amacalpine@gazette.net.
