Whatever Happened to the Georgetown Gondola?

DC has buses, the Metro, and that H Street tram you tried out one time. But this doesn’t mean our city is ready to stop tinkering with transit. Whether on the water, underground, or up in the air, the following projects have gotten Washingtonians talking. Will they actually happen?

Georgetown Canal Boat

What we were promised: The C&O Canal boat was taken out of service in 2011. The DC government later allocated money to bring a boat back to the canal.

How it’s going: The new vessel was built at the Roudebush Yacht & Engine Works near Baltimore and could begin ferrying passengers later this summer. It was recently spotted floating in the canal.

Georgetown–Rosslyn Gondola

What we were promised: The attention-grabbing conveyance over the Potomac would zip riders to the Rosslyn Metro station in about four minutes.

How it’s going: DC Council member Brooke Pinto recently requested that $14 million be included in the city’s budget for the project, but for now the funds don’t appear to be forthcoming.

DC–Baltimore Hyperloop

What we were promised: In 2017, Elon Musk announced that his Boring Company was working on underground tubes that would get Washingtonians to Baltimore in 15 minutes and New York in less than 30.

How it’s going: The company no longer mentions the hyperloop on its website, and Musk has been mum about the project. The Acela might not have much to worry about.

A version of this article appears in the July 2021 issue of Washingtonian.

Shriya Bhattacharya