SEATTLE — Ride the Ducks re-launched its passenger service Friday morning -- resuming service for the first time since the fatal crash last year.
Many of the passengers on board were supporters of Ride the Ducks and relatives of employees.
"It's a very emotional day," said Leeanne Johnson whose son works for the company.
Half of the Ride the Ducks fleet is allowed back on the street, 10 "truck ducks". The other 10 "stretch ducks", like the one involved in the fatal accident in September that killed five North Seattle College students on the Aurora Bridge, are staying parked for now.
On Friday two changes were most obvious- there is now a driver and a tour guide, and the route avoids the Aurora Bridge and crosses the Fremont Bridge instead.
What has changed about the tours?
The city of Seattle and Seattle Department of Transportation announced on Wednesday evening an agreement had been reached with Ride the Ducks.
[ >> Read the full agreement between Ride the Ducks & the city of Seattle here. ]
The Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission made recommendations in December that Ride the Ducks vehicles return to streets.
They were found to have 442 avoidable violations of motor carrier safety laws.
The company must improve its safety rating by the end of January and complete a safety management plan.
On Wednesday evening, the Seattle DOT released a new route map for Ducks vehicles. Ride the Ducks has agreed it will no longer travel over the Aurora Bridge.
The company also agreed it would not allow drivers of the amphibious tour vehicles to engage in tour narration while driving.
According to the agreement, special events, construction activity and unanticipated occurrences are exempt and could result in route deviations.
[ >> Find the Utilities and Transportation Commission investigation report here. ]
Ride the Ducks plans on using the Fremont Bridge on its main tour route. In December, the Seattle mayor’s office had written the UTC, expressing concern that the Fremont Bridge would pose “even greater safety risks to the public” given that it carries the city’s largest amount of bicycle traffic.
When asked about the concerns Thursday, the Seattle Department of Transportation would not comment on the relative safety of one bridge compared with another.
However, Ahmed Darrat, an SDOT signal design and maintenance manager, said, “The Fremont Bridge does have conflicting points with pedestrians and bicyclists that were of some concern.”
He said the lanes on the Aurora Bridge are 9.5 feet wide. The narrowest lane on the Fremont Bridge is also 9.5 feet wide and the widest is 10 feet wide.
Ride the Ducks has two models of vehicles: the Stretch Duck, which was the type involved in the accident, and the Truck Duck, which is the only kind currently allowed to operate.
Both models are 8.5 feet wide.
Trouble spots for the Ducks
The Fremont Bridge has one fewer lane in each direction, but has about the same collision rate as the Aurora Bridge.
Between 2012 and 2014, each bridge saw about 60 collisions per mile traveled.
As part of the memorandum of understanding with the city, Ride the Ducks now voluntarily shows SDOT the routes it plans to take.
SDOT then gives them comments and data on collision history in different locations, so the Ride the Ducks drivers can pay more attention in those areas.
The trouble spots include:
- Fremont Avenue N. and N. 34th Street
- Troll Avenue N. and N. 34th Street
- Stone Way N. and N. 34th Street
- Dexter Avenue N. and N. Galer Street
- Dexter Avenue N. and N. Comstock Street
- Dexter Avenue N. and N. Highland Street
- Alaskan Way and Marion Street
Ride the Ducks told KIRO 7 that Dexter Avenue would only be used as an alternate route.