With a vision of making Ottawa more like a city such as Venice, Ottawa entrepreneur Mike Karpishka is adding solar-powered taxis to his fleet of licensed “tiki” boats to ferry passengers across the Ottawa River between the nation’s capital and Gatineau.
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With a vision of making Ottawa more like a city such as Venice, Ottawa entrepreneur Mike Karpishka is adding solar-powered taxis to his fleet of licensed “tiki” boats to ferry passengers across the Ottawa River between the nation’s capital and Gatineau.
His vision, which he says will boost tourism and streamline local traffic, includes asking for support from municipal governments on either side of the river.
Karpishka is the co-owner of Palapa Tours, which offers boat cruises on licensed tiki boats on the Ottawa River. Along with co-owner Gaby Saucedo, Karpishka is in the process of purchasing WaterTaxiEh?, a water taxi service that provides eco-friendly transportation using solar-electric vessels.
He said he hopes to lead the way for the future of water transportation in Ottawa.
“I've got this massive formulation in my mind of really enhancing what the potential is with these water taxis in Ottawa and having more services,” Karpishka told OBJ. “We have this incredible waterway and the taxi is just unknown.”
Karpishka’s plan would bring together the city’s aqua-tourism operators, including Lady Dive Tours and Ottawa Yacht Tours, in a bid to gain financial support from the Ottawa and Gatineau municipal governments.
Because while Karpishka is excited at the prospect of acquiring solar-powered vessels for tours, he said his real hope is that a rebranded WaterTaxi.Solar can offer free taxi services between Ottawa and Gatineau, eliminating pollution and traffic while showcasing Ottawa’s waterways.
“It's a question of what this end project will look like for Ottawa and Gatineau. Do I keep it at low-cost tickets? My vision is to have all four boats for transit,” he said. “Because it's amazing what Ottawa is on the verge of possibly creating.”
The free model would require funding from municipal transportation budgets, as well as from private sponsorships and promotions. With the participation of other water tourism operators, Karpishka said Ottawa’s waterways will garner the attention they deserve.
“We're all interested in promoting sustainable tourism in Ottawa. We all have our own independent businesses, but we want to make Ottawa like Warsaw or Venice,” he said. “Look what we have here in this city.”
Karpishka has been chatting with city councillors and municipal representatives to discuss the potential of his water taxi vision. But the time is now, he said.
With construction on the Alexandra Bridge planned in the next few years, traffic and daily commutes between Ottawa and Gatineau will become increasingly strained, he argued. A free water taxi can get across the river in a few minutes, Karpishka said, and be another option during bridge closures and delays.
The taxi service would also include routes between Gatineau and the NCC River House, Karpishka said, in addition to longer and more extensive paid tours.
With the acquisition, Palapa Tours will also be able to access the water taxi docks, which expands the possibilities for other routes.
“Right now, (Saucedo) and I are purchasing it and, despite anything else, we see a viable business model here. Even if there's no sponsorship, we see the potential of what we can build up,” he said. “But if the government or private-sector organizations want to contribute … and I get enough companies doing that, then I can turn this into a free initiative.”
This is just the latest in expansion plans for Palapa Tours. Its tiki boats are now operating in Toronto and new ones are under construction in Mexico, Karpishka said. At the very least, he said he’s excited to add the solar-powered water taxis and some new solar tiki vessels to his fleet.
Karpishka said he has a “plan B” if his vision for a free water taxi service cannot be realized: he’ll keep one taxi boat here to offer paid services and send the other solar-powered vessels to either Toronto or Mexico. But he’s hoping that won’t be the case, he said.
“I live here in Ottawa. This is my city. I moved here 20 years ago from Montreal, I've been plying and scraping with Palapa Tours to have a presence on the water here. I'm excited about the potential in Ottawa and I want Ottawa to recognize that we've got this gem in our hands,” he said. “Let's all of us step up, from the city to private enterprises. Let's make Ottawa unique.
“We're not going to be a blip on the radar. People are going to be like, ‘Hey, let's go hang out in Ottawa for a few days.’ People will actually come because there's really cool things happening on the waterways of Ottawa,” he continued. “And I think that's the gem that we have in this city that nobody knows about or uses.”
