City of Seattle asks state to stop Ride the Ducks from touring again

Two days after a state investigation concluded that Ride the Ducks could restart some operations in Seattle, the city is now asking the state to prevent the company from rolling once again.

On Tuesday, the state’s Utilities and Transportation Commission said Ride the Ducks could resume part of its operations on Seattle streets. Specifically, the tour company could put its Truck Ducks on the road, but not the stretch boats similar to the vehicle involved in a fatal September crash on the Aurora Bridge.

But on Thursday, Mayor Ed Murray’s office sent a letter to the UTC.

“In response to the UTC’s findings, the city respectfully requests that Ride the Ducks’ vehicles be prohibited from returning to service in the City of Seattle until the company’s unsatisfactory safety rating is resolved and the city has had time to implement additional safety regulations or agreed upon conditions for Ride the Ducks to continue operations,” the letter stated.

The mayor’s letter notes that the UTC investigation found that the tour company had 442 “avoidable violations” that resulted in a proposed unsatisfactory safety rating. The UTC’s study concluded, however, that the company could resume part of its operations under certain requirements. But the city wants a more hands-on approach.

“Yet, despite these findings, Ride the Ducks’ vehicles may be allowed to return to Seattle streets before these safety concerns are sufficiently addressed,” the letter states. “These circumstances are cause for great concern for the residents of Seattle.”

Among the city’s concerns is that the Ducks tours’ proposed fixes to its operation have not been formalized by enforceable regulations. The city is also concerned that the vehicles will be diverting their routes to other bridges in Seattle, now that they won’t be traveling on Aurora Bridge.

“The city’s request is further supported by the reality that Ducks’ vehicles traveling on Seattle’s Fremont Bridge, which been proposed to the UTC as an alternative route, would pose even greater safety risks to the public,” the letter states, noting that the Fremont Bridge has the highest bicycle traffic in the city, and considerable pedestrian traffic.

The city would like the state to prevent Ride the Ducks from starting up tours until the unsatisfactory rating has been entirely resolved, and until the tour routes have been “reduced to legislation or an agreement.”