Inquirer Editorial: Still quacking

The city has finally taken the correct action by rejecting a proposal to allow amphibious boat tours on the Schuylkill.

It took considerable public outcry to persuade Mayor Nutter and his team, but they did listen ultimately to residents' concerns. The plan submitted by Ride the Ducks would have created traffic and noise problems, and disrupted the tranquillity of the park downriver from the Art Museum.

Last year, the mayor announced - prematurely - that the move of the tour boats to the Schuylkill was a done deal. The city then requested bids and decided it was a poor idea.

However, another potential problem looms. Ride the Ducks, a Georgia company, now says it plans to resume operations this year on the Delaware River, site of a fatal accident involving one of its boats last July.

Two tourists were killed when a city-owned barge hit a disabled duck in the Delaware. The National Transportation Safety Board is expected to finish its probe into the accident this summer.

The Coast Guard has cleared Ride the Ducks to resume operations on the Delaware, a busy shipping channel. It would make more sense to await the findings of the NTSB before deciding whether to proceed with the tours.

The Coast Guard's port captain in Philadelphia from 1998 to 2002 barred ducks from cruising along Penn's Landing due to concern for their safety among larger ships. The proposed move to the Schuylkill was a tacit admission that it would be safer there, with far less commercial traffic.

Last summer's fatal accident was the only one for Ride the Ducks since it began operations here in 2003. But it does raise questions about the wisdom of resuming trips on the Delaware.

Ride the Ducks maintains that its boats are safe. But any decision to allow the boats back on the Delaware should await the results of the NTSB investigation.