The proposed "Ride the Ducks" tour isn't getting much local love, but City Council has agreed to hold tight on passing an ordinance that would ban the amphibious vehicles. The council and many locals say the "ducks" don't fit in with the "unique character" of the Quarter and they don't want them clogging the already-packed streets. The duck defense? "Compared to the beer trucks, liquor trucks, delivery trucks, sanitation trucks, and oversize double-decker busses that presently travel through the French Quarter, we think the Duck vehicles are a good fit for the Vieux Carre' as they will generate less noise, move more quickly, and have a lighter footprint than any of these vehicles." The tour would start at the Toulouse Street wharf in the Quarter, bounce along N. Peters Street to Canal Street and eventually end up at the Bonnabel boat launch in Metairie where the vehicles would dip into Lake Pontchartrain. Councilwoman Kristen Gisleson Palmer said she's not against the tours "in theory" but the Quarter needs "a serious transportation plan." Other issues: safety, of course, and the possibility of a boatload of tourists encouraged to "quack" through plastic souvenirs.
· Council committee tables 'Duck' tours ordinance [The Advocate]
· NOLA Ducks [official site]
· These birds don't need to fly South [NOLAFemmes]
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