A Boston, USA, start-up called Regent wants to make flying ferries the best way to travel between coastal cities, CNBC reported.

The start-up is developing an “electric seaglider” that can motor out of a harbor on a hydrofoil, take off at a low speed using the water as a runway, then fly over the waves at a top speed of 180 miles per hour to bring passengers to their destinations, according to co-founders CEO Billy Thalheimer and CTO Michael Klinker.

Thalheimer told CNBC that Regent wants to make trips between coastal cities fast, safe, affordable and reliable with the smallest possible environmental footprint.

Importantly, Regent is developing its seagliders to work with existing harbor infrastructure, the CEO says.

The company will seek to establish passenger routes between major hubs like Boston and New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco, or shorter routes like New York City to the Hamptons or routes connecting the islands of Hawaii.

But for now, with $9 million in fresh seed funding in hand, the start-up is focusing on a prototype.

“We’re going to be flying a quarter-scale prototype by the end of this year,” said Thalheimer.

The company is expecting to do its first flight in the Boston area.

Unlike prior generations in tech, Thalheimer says, working on a start-up that deals in atoms not just bits and bytes is easier than ever.