By Courtland Milloy
Wednesday, September 12, 2007; B01

Standing on a pier-turned-cabstand, I caught a boat from the Fort Washington marina to the waterfront baseball stadium being built for the Nationals in Southeast Washington. A ride from suburb to city has never been so refreshing.

Willem Polak, president of the Alexandria-based Potomac Riverboat Co., was showing me how a water taxi service stacks up against travel by car. He has dreamed of operating a full-scale fleet for nearly 40 years. And now, with a recent agreement to ferry passengers from Alexandria to National Harbor, the dream has moved closer to becoming a reality.

"Imagine landing at National Airport, taking a shuttle to the Alexandria marina and catching a water taxi to a convention at National Harbor," Polak said. "It's a 20-minute boat ride, compared to nearly an hour by car if you have to cross the Wilson Bridge in rush hour."

Such a shortcut would be tempting to anyone who's ever suffered through miles of bumper-to-bumper backups at that notorious crossing.

En route to the stadium, we stopped at a massive dock under construction at National Harbor, a $2 billion development rising along a quarter-mile of Potomac riverfront in Prince George's County. This is where Polak will land two custom-made water taxis, each 78 feet long and capable of carrying 99 passengers. He expects to carry 1,000 people a day from Alexandria to the Harbor's resort hotel and convention center, luxury condominiums, shops and restaurants, set to open next spring.

And that's just for starters.

Polak and Charles County officials are in discussions about water taxi service from Southern Maryland up the Potomac to National Harbor, the Nationals' stadium and on to the Kennedy Center. There could even be a water ride over to Fort Belvoir -- taking miles and hours off the daily commute by military personnel who live in Charles County.

It is not known how much the 20-minute ride from Alexandria to National Harbor will cost, but the adult round-trip fare between Alexandria and Georgetown is $22.

National Harbor developer Milton Peterson has often said Washington's rivers should "connect people, not divide them." He shares Polak's vision of turning the Potomac and Anacostia rivers into America's most scenic waterways. But the road has been long and arduous. During a Metro transit strike in 1978, for instance, Polak began working on plans to provide a charter commuter service over water between the Pentagon in Arlington County and Bolling Air Force Base in Southwest Washington. Nearly 30 years later, he's still at it.

"Getting all the federal and state bureaucrats to work together is like herding cats," he said. Nevertheless, with $5 billion in waterfront development underway along the Potomac and Anacostia -- and an additional $10 billion worth slated to begin soon -- his optimism springs eternal.

Polak, 62, has a master's degree in urban and regional planning from George Washington University. In 1968, while working for an economic consulting firm, he had the idea of starting a company to operate tour boats and water taxis. But his fascination goes back even further. At 16, he shipped out for a summer as a cadet officer on the Holland-West Africa cruise line to see Africa.

Polak started Potomac Riverboat in 1982 and operates five water taxis and tour boats from Alexandria, Georgetown and Mount Vernon. There are several other water taxi and tour boat operators in the Washington area, including DC Ducks, Spirit Cruises, Odyssey Cruises and Capitol River Cruises. But no one has worked the Potomac longer -- or pushed harder to make the river a liquid highway -- than Polak.

"There ought to be enough business to go around," he said.

The water taxi for our trip to the stadium was actually a fishing boat owned and operated by Polak's friend Tom Pumpelly, a founder of tire retailer NTW. A real water taxi would have been much too large for just the three of us.

If I were going to a game by car, I would take Indian Head Highway, Interstate 295 and South Capitol Street. It would be stop- and-go traffic most of the way, followed by a mad dash for a parking space. I'd be crying foul before the first pitch.

Traveling by boat, I got to sit back and relax, cooled by a misty breeze while watching eagles and hawks soar above the lush shorelines of Maryland and Virginia.

I probably wouldn't mind going to work that way. If only the office had a dock.

E-mail:milloyc@washpost.com