What if there were an Uber-style app for commuting by boat? Baltimore residents may soon find out, thanks to a major investment by Under Armour’s Kevin Plank.
The founder of the Charm City-based athletic apparel company is hoping to revitalize and transform the water taxis, The Baltimore Sun reported Tuesday.
“The deal to buy Harbor Boating Inc. comes as the city agrees to award another long-term contract to the firm, which was founded in Baltimore in the 1970s and has been the city’s exclusive operator since 2005,” the Sun said, noting that city regulators were “expected to approve the contract on Wednesday.”
“This was a service that we were trying to do to make transportation more viable in the city,” Demian Costa of Sagamore Ventures, Mr. Plank’s private-equity group, said, the Sun reported. “What we really want to do is make this a truly commuter-friendly service.”
According to The Sun, Mr. Costa anticipates “launch[ing] a tracking service for the commuter boats in partnership with Uber by next spring.” What’s more, Harbor Boating, which operates both a free commuter boat-taxi service and the tourist-centered paid water taxi is looking into expanding its fleet to include smaller vessels that can “fit about a dozen people, who hail boats on-demand via Uber,” said the Sun.
“The digital transportation company offered a version of the service during Light City earlier this year in partnership with Under Armour and the water taxi firm,” the Sun noted.
A restlessly energetic entrepreneur, Mr. Plank has also invested heavily in a bicycle courier flower-delivery service called Urban Stems, the Sun reported in April.
A University of Maryland grad, Mr. Plank has also plunked millions into his alma mater, including a reported $25 million to the ongoing renovation of the College Park campus’s historic Cole Field House.
The longtime home of Maryland Terrapin basketball is being transformed into an indoor football practice facility for the school’s Division 1 football program.
• Ken Shepherd can be reached at kshepherd@washingtontimes.com.
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