Commuter boat service planned for Paris

The River Seine has no shortage of boat traffic, from huge freight barges to hop-on, hop-off tourist taxis ferrying sightseers between Paris’ most popular attractions. 

In the run-up to the 2024 Paris Olympics, however, there was talk of a new kind of ‘river metro’ aimed primarily at locals and commuters. 

It would not be the first such initiative on the city’s waterway. 

The Seine has a long history of passenger transport, notably a service that operated between 1867 and 1934, originally carrying passengers on steam boats.

“When the underground opened in the 1900s, the boats faced stiff competition, which led to their demise,” says Arnaud Passalacqua, co-director of the Ecole d'Urbanisme de Paris.

Since then tourist boat companies have dominated the river. Almost 10 million passengers took trips along the Seine in 2023 with companies including the famous Bateaux Mouches.

A passenger service designed for commuters, Voguéo, began in 2007 but stopped in 2011. 

It “struggled to find its footing”, Professor Passalacqua says, citing long journey times, poor service and high costs among reasons. 

Today the Batobus attempts to lure regular passengers, with discounts available for holders of the Navigo transport pass. However, prices are still too high to make it a viable day-to-day option and it remains largely the preserve of tourists, who pay €23 for a 24-hour pass.

Many residents feel that Paris is in dire need of boats that serve local needs. 

“In Paris, developing river transport isn't a ‘nice-to-have’, it's a lever for a more breathable, more fluid and more resilient city,” says Dany Carvalho, president and co-founder of RiverCat France, which is hoping to start a service in 2027.

RiverCat will be designed primarily for residents, with “subscriptions, year-round frequency, and accessibility for people with reduced mobility and bicycles”. 

The boats will even include dedicated work stations for commuters. 

“For us, serving residents as well as visitors is the key to making RiverCat useful, viable, and accepted in the long term, says Mr Carvalho.

“A service designed for everyday travel guarantees public utility all year round and anchors RiverCat in local life.

“Targeting locals first doesn't mean moving away from tourism; it means building a reliable backbone that benefits everyone.” 

Single fares will cost €7 and there will be weekly, monthly and annual passes for regular users and Navigo pass-holders. 

Key hurdles ahead

The company, which originally hoped to start a service before the Olympics, still needs approval from Haropa port, which runs the ports of Paris, Rouen and Le Havre, to use its network of piers for embarkation.

“We're expecting confirmation from Haropa by the end of the year,” says Mr Carvalho. 

In April 2025, Haropa Port put out a call for companies to operate a river transport service using its docks along the Seine from Boulogne-Billancourt (Hauts-de-Seine) to Alfortville (Val-de-Marne). 

Companies must commit to zero emissions. Haropa Port plans to announce the winners at the end of 2025. 

While forms of river transport have worked well in other capitals, such as London’s Uber Boats by Thames Clippers, there are some inherent challenges in Paris. 

“Transport capacity along the Seine is limited by factors such as the curved course of the river, accessibility to stations and the slowness of travel by water compared to rail,” says Professor Passalacqua.

“It is therefore difficult to envisage a system that could meet the needs of commuters.” 

The speed limit for boats is capped at 12km/hour in Paris and 18km/hour in the suburbs because of the damage to the banks that waves can cause. 

However, river-based public transport has worked in other cities in France. 

Nantes’ Navibus has been running boat shuttles across the Loire and Erdre rivers since 2003 and is part of the city’s Naolib public transport network. 

The service takes people across the river – the N1, for example, ferries people from Trentemoult, on the south bank, to Nantes’ river port, on the north bank, and runs every 20 minutes, or every 10 minutes during rush hour. The crossing time is 10 minutes. 

Is there a scenario where the speed limit could work in a river service’s favour? 

River transport could be “interesting if a decision were made to slow down all forms of transport in Paris” says Professor Passalacqua. 

This could help river transport “find its place, provided that its environmental impact is relevant”.

He adds: “It is clear that water transport for the population of the Paris metropolitan area could be an attractive option.”