NEW YORK (Bloomberg) - New York Water Taxi, which operates commuter ferry service between New York City and its suburbs, will begin running boats between Rockland County and lower Manhattan next week.

The service will begin September 4 with two ferries in the morning and two at night, New York Water Taxi said on its website.

The first boat will leave Haverstraw, 36 miles north of Manhattan, at 6.15am local time and arrive at Pier 11 at 7.27am with stops at Yonkers and the World Financial Center. The last boat will leave at 6.30pm and arrive in Haverstraw at 8.12pm.

The agency has been expanding its routes as the city's economy grows and commuters seek more public transportation options amid rising gas prices, more congested highways and crowded trains and subways.

"It's all about reducing congestion in the city and taking cars off the road," New York Water Taxi spokeswoman Stacey Sherman said in a telephone interview.

"We're hoping its jam-packed every day."

In May, New York Water Taxi began running a ferry between Yonkers and Manhattan after it was chosen by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, the Lower Manhattan Development Corp. and the city of Yonkers to run the new service.

Later that month, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced a plan to offer a commuter ferry service between lower Manhattan and the Rockaway peninsula, a strip of land jutting into the Atlantic Ocean on the south shore of Queens, as part of efforts to cut car traffic and reduce carbon emissions.

Service to Haverstraw will cost $15 one way, $130 for 10 trips and $450 for 40 trips. New York Water Taxi also runs rush- hour commuter boats between Manhattan and Brooklyn, Queens, and Jersey City, New Jersey.