by Donald Wood
Last updated: 4:00 PM ET, Tue November 1, 2016
Paris has always been on the cutting edge of tourism, and the city is thinking outside the box again with the eventual addition of environmentally friendly flying river taxis, dubbed SeaBubbles.
According to FoxNews.com, the SeaBubbles are high-tech water crafts designed to carry up to five people around the waterways of Paris at a top speed of eight knots in a more environmentally friendly fashion.
The SeaBubbles water crafts-designed by French sailor Alain Thebault and Swedish surfer Anders Bringdal-are built from fiberglass and high-density foam, and use solar power to generate the energy needed to transport people.
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Paris and its Mayor Anne Hidalgo have been instrumental in the development of the project, but Thebault revealed that the host city could have been London. Unfortunately, the startup company didn't receive the necessary assistance in England and took the project to France.
The long-term goal for the SeaBubbles would be to make them available for service on ride-hailing apps such as Uber and Lyft, with estimated fares costing just over $12. The working prototype of the water craft is expected to be displayed at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.
"Next spring we will hold a public demonstration on the Seine in front of the National Assembly (parliament) in Paris with five Sea Bubbles," Thebault said in a statement. "Once we have gone beyond the prototype and have fully developed the Sea Bubble, we might, after Paris, begin with London or Geneva."
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