Riders on the Channel Cat will notice some major changes this summer. The water taxi operated by Metro Link will begin its 22nd season Friday, and offer a new phone app to buy tickets, and in July a new "home port" will open, just upstream from the current dock in Moline.
Jennifer Garrity from Metro Link says the new home port will cost 1.3 million dollars.
The project will include a new bridge for the Ben Butterworth Parkway, and ADA access to the Channel Cat.
Garrity says in the past, riders had to pay cash to ride the water taxi, but a new mobile ticketing app will allow people another option - to pay with a credit card or debit card.
The ticketing app was designed by a Chicago company, American Eagle, which has designed similar apps for other clients, including the Chicago Transit Authority.
The Channel Cat Water Taxi will operate seven days a week, starting Friday, through Labor Day, then only open on weekends in September and October. It makes two stops in Moline, and one each in downtown Bettendorf, and the Village of East Davenport.