Florida Keys News
Tuesday, June 12, 2012
Ducks will soon ply Key West waters
Trolley competitors will now face off with amphibious tours
BY MANDY MILES Citizen Staff
mmiles@keysnews.com

Duck Tours Seafari and Historic Tours of America once again will compete for sightseeing tourist dollars this summer, when both companies begin offering tours aboard amphibious vehicles, some of which are known as "ducks" in and around Key West.

The first amphibious vehicle to arrive in Key West is owned by HTA, the tour company that settled a lawsuit 14 years a...

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giving this city the finger

Submitted on Thu, 06/14/2012 - 8:45am by KWYankee
The "banning" of the duck tours cost this city millions in taxpayer dollars. It is like giving the citizens of Key West the finger for HTA to bring any type of amphibious vehicle into this town after that debacle.

Cool. I can't wait to ride.

Submitted on Wed, 06/13/2012 - 11:56pm
You complainthat the vehicle is too big and too tacky. They may just be, but what an improvement over the $5 dollar stores, and bong shops that line Duval Street. There's room for the Ducks in Key West, and tourists will love the tours. I rode them in Boston, and it's such a great view. Seeing Key West from the water is so much better than walking the disgusting filthy sidewalks.

The bong stores closed long

Submitted on Fri, 06/15/2012 - 1:01pm by 666
The bong stores closed long ago. Maybe you should get off Stock Island more often. These tours are not "too tacky." Key West is more tacky then anything you can imagine! However, they are unsafe. They killed someone in San Diego and The City is now being sued. Will HTA indemnify The City against any lawsuits? LOL! This vehicle is much wider and larger then existing trolleys. They WILL have and cause accidents. They WILL damage parked cars and slow traffic even more then it is already. These are just too big for Key West. Interestingly, there are smaller versions of these vehicles that could be used. Swift's contempt for the people who live in Old Town is so great, that he did not even use one of the smaller vehicles. I agree about the view from the water. I used to enjoy is from my paddleboard and Kayak until I was almost killed by a Jet Ski Tour, but that is a topic for another day.

The trolleys are already bad enough. They can't make

Submitted on Mon, 06/18/2012 - 8:51am by *.* CLEARLY the original
turns in Old Town streets, and often force oncoming traffic vehicles in their correct lanes, to back up because the Trolley drivers insist on going down streets that are too narrow for them.

You're right. Swift continues to show nothing but contempt for the people of Old Town, especially when he profits from making our lives miserable and doesn't even pay his licensing, rents and taxes. He makes money, the taxpayers continue to suck it up because he doesn't pay? How exactly is this right? And what about his properties in foreclosure? He made that mess himself with his contempt for business owners, charging outrageous rents, and then allowing properties to sit vacant rather than rent at the NEW market values that came with a ruined economy. The guy is beyond garbage. I just don't understand why the City of Key West and Monroe County continue to allow this behavior.

Ahh, so are you currently a train or trolley driver?

Submitted on Thu, 06/14/2012 - 3:02pm by *.* CLEARLY the original
Clearly you've been a'drinkin' the Swift Koolaid. Or maybe he's just holding your job over your head, as he's been known to do.

Actually, I don't work for the Swifts. Just honest opinion.

Submitted on Thu, 06/14/2012 - 6:54pm
It's silly that just because I have a different view that is favorable to the tour company, you think I'm an employee. You really can't fathom someone having a different opinion? I think that these kind of tours are really cool. And, there are so many tacky and much uglier things in Key West that I don't ever hear anyone complain about. The stores need to be cleaned up. Higgs Beach next to White Street Pier is an eye sore. The man with just a sock on his penis dancing on the sidewalk in front of Bourbon Street bar and the awful stench coming from the beer gutters is so much more offensive to visitors and locals alike. A big tour vehicle would be a nice distraction. Take a ride and you'll see for yourself that Key West really looks better when you're looking from the ocean.

It is well known that Swift strong-arms his employees into

Submitted on Mon, 06/18/2012 - 8:54am by *.* CLEARLY the original
writing supporting comments. During the original Ducks debacle, he had mandatory employee meetings for the purpose of scaring his employees about their jobs and to 'encourage' them to oppose the Ducks as well as any chance that other tour companies such as Grayline might come to town and take their jobs.

Good

Submitted on Wed, 06/13/2012 - 9:08pm by Charles Darwin
The local elitists will whine about the "quality" of the tourists that take the Duck tour. Key West is low rent, and always will be . Like Fantasy Fest draws a classy clientele? Take the money and shut up.

Puleeze.......like KW is all high class.

Submitted on Thu, 06/14/2012 - 6:57pm
Low rent, and kachinging all the the way to the bank after a long night at da strip club, and local watering hole. Now all outta sudden, we don't want to look cheap? Too late, just wait for the new video "Ducks Gone Wild on Duval Street". LOL

Hmmm...there is more to KW than the cops and drunks.

Submitted on Fri, 06/15/2012 - 12:27pm by *.* CLEARLY the original
It appears that's who you are describing.

BARF

Submitted on Tue, 06/12/2012 - 5:11pm by 88maverick
I almost barfed when I saw the picture of that monstrosity. What a stupid idea. What a slap in the face of citizens. Greed, pure insensitive greed.

It's a business....

Submitted on Tue, 06/12/2012 - 10:43pm by hotyi54c
It creates jobs and adds to the tourism economy here. Don't like it? Get rid of tourism.

You ignoramus! It will add

Submitted on Wed, 06/13/2012 - 7:36am by 666
You ignoramus! It will add a grand total of two jobs! In the meantime it will make our island LESS desirable for the thousands of tourists who second money here! Some people are just stupid. Do you work for HTA? Are you Swifts neighbor? Your cant really be that dumb. This is one venture that adds nothing but traffic, clutter and noise. I can not image a single resident, unless that get one of the two new positions or are in bed with swift, who would support this. Sheeple like you are why The Royal Swifts steamroll this City.

Exactly. Those who claim' jobs created' are the same ones who

Submitted on Thu, 06/14/2012 - 3:04pm by *.* CLEARLY the original
call the top 1% 'Job creators'. Brainwashed. And they of course, expect everyone to believe the lie.

Just more garbage on our streets brought to you by the Swiftians, who don't pay their taxes, don't pay their licensing fees, and allow buildings to go into foreclosure after demanding outrageous rents for far too long.

Blivet

Submitted on Wed, 06/13/2012 - 2:04pm by
Not all tourism is good. A balance between healthy doses of tourism and quality of life needs to be achieved. Aren't there enough watersports booths on every corner? Do we really need more sightseeing vehicles? Do we need more sightseeing vessels? More pedicabs? More jetski tours? More scooter rentals? More $5 stores? More cruiseships? We've built the world's largest blivet. 10 pounds of crap in a 5 pound bag. Please stop the madness.

GET RID OF WAVERUNNER TOURS!

Submitted on Wed, 06/13/2012 - 2:06pm by Voltaire Perkins
On your note here, the City, State, Whoever, MUST reign in these incessant "tours" led by hungover hacks who couldn't operate a real vessel if their life depended on it. In typical KW fashion, we will wait for the inevitable collision with a snorkeler before anything is done. They are WAY too close to shore, and last weekend I witnessed several of them cut the swim markers at Ft. Zach. Where is the enforcement? Whose idea was it to ruin the local shoreline of Key West? Why is there no identifying logo or signage on these things so we can call to report the constant problems with these water clowns? Key Westers, a very, very small group of people are profiting at the expense of all of us. Demand change!

Lodge a complaint with your city commissioner.

Submitted on Mon, 06/18/2012 - 8:55am by *.* CLEARLY the original
No one here can do much to help you with that.

I have complained about this

Submitted on Wed, 06/13/2012 - 2:47pm by 666
I have complained about this several timesvandvwas told there has never been a complaint by the mayor and my commissioner. Write the commission and mayor. It will have more impact then posting here. Make these tours stay another thousand feet off shore as a minimal next step.

The ironic thing is

Submitted on Tue, 06/12/2012 - 4:07pm by Spoken Citizen
that HTA vied for these things to be banished from the island to prevent competition for his greedy business years ago and cost the city big time for allowing Jimmy Weekley (mayor at the time) and HTA to bully the ducks out of town. Well when HTA heard that Greg Wythe wanted to bring the ducks back , HTA are such sore losers, that they had to bring in their own ducks for competition. Just like they had to copy the ghost tour Greg came up with too. Unreal, Swift and Beland such sore losers like kids in a sand box. Today on Whitehead form the post office I counted four trollies an three trains and five of the vehicles had no one on them....there is your karma boys

Were I a city commissioner...

Submitted on Tue, 06/12/2012 - 3:54pm by Mac

I'd think long and hard about all these comments.

It's clear that the citizens of Key West don't want these mega-vehicles roaming our streets, much less our already-crowded harbor.

Yeah, you were under pressure (threats of lawsuits) to grant these franchises, but it's time you used your "traffic study" or whatever other legal chacanery you can to stop this now.

These machines are way too wide and big to be added to our narrow streets. There will be hell to pay for any city commissioner who doesn't raise hell right now. Stop this now.

That is not a photo of a DUCK

Submitted on Tue, 06/12/2012 - 2:58pm by CityView
It is a hydra-terra, difference is a DUCK holds 30 passengers, hydra-terras hold 48 passengers. That will give you an idea of the size of these things. HTA runs them in San Diego and there have been instances of people being run over and seriously injured and in one case killed by a "San Diego SEAL" as they call them. San Diego streets are MUCH wider than Key West, and they dont have thousands of people wandering aimlessly around. These vehicles are a recipe for disaster down here.

That Thing Is...

Submitted on Tue, 06/12/2012 - 2:19pm by grundoontwo
One Big, Tacky, Ugly-Lookin' Sum-Bidch! HTA's can't be any better. I think they'll need to pay people to ride on those things, and then they'll go away soon, on their own. Hopefully, at least, because no-one else seems to be willing or able to control the spread of this infectious disease.

What ever happened to the traffic study done a few years back ?

Submitted on Tue, 06/12/2012 - 10:00am by trapper
Combined with the 2 year paving project , the new trolleys and the existing Swift trains already on the streets , we are headed toward GRIDLOCK. The City commisssion needs to take into account the construction factor and deny this. Already we see too many trains running through town with hardly anyone on them , slowing traffic , and creating snarls. Additional oversize vehicles will only add to the problem . Wythe and Murphy are correct, the hypocritical emperor surname suits him well. The City grants Swift everything he wants while he doesn't pay his taxes.

Traffic Study

Submitted on Tue, 06/12/2012 - 3:00pm by CityView
The traffic study was done and has been published on the City website. In essence, it says there is really no traffic in Key West. It also says trains and trolleys amount to 1% of the traffic flow in Key West.

1 % trains =

Submitted on Tue, 06/12/2012 - 9:48pm by trapper
99 % Behind it.

and your point is??? just

Submitted on Tue, 06/12/2012 - 3:45pm by ezinthekeys
and your point is??? just because it's on the city website doesn't make it true. so yeah... let's get real!

this is what we need... more

Submitted on Tue, 06/12/2012 - 9:45am by ezinthekeys
this is what we need... more tour rides blocking our streets and now our waterways. stupid, stupid, stupid! time to reduce the number of vehicles these companies can operate at any given time.

Why, why, why...?

Submitted on Tue, 06/12/2012 - 9:21am by Voltaire Perkins
I'll repeat: Why, why, why?

Murphy summed it up. Like

Submitted on Tue, 06/12/2012 - 7:14am by 666
Murphy summed it up. Like The Spottswoods, Swift is a member of Key West's royalty. He does what he wants, when he wants. He uses City right of ways, takes over parking and streets that are supposedly public, pays taxes when convenient and enoys having the serfs of Key West work for slave wages and dance for tips. Do you see the size of the vehicle in the picture? How in the world is this thing safe on our streets? These tours encourage people to scream and yell and blow stupid duck whistles. It is time for The City to issue transient rental licenses to all homes in Old Town. It is no longer a viable neighborhood to live in. I am disgusted this was done with no public comment. Do we know the route. Of course not. It will be whatever King Ed wants.

It is such a small area

Submitted on Tue, 06/12/2012 - 8:39pm by iwasdoomedonce
that this will take up. Traffic is already slow, people are used to it. It will not have an affect on shopping at Publix, it will not have any affect on beach goers at any of our beaches, it will not have any affect on going to church. It will only affect Duval. And who cares about that, it's expected. The 37 ghost tours can add it to their stops by lying about how ducks were here before the chickens and Robert the doll changed them. It is all part of of the morphing of KW...don't worry, they won't go to the reef, mmmmmmmm, I hope not.

Who cares about Duval?? Let

Submitted on Wed, 06/13/2012 - 7:41am by 666
Who cares about Duval?? Let me tell you. The thousands of tourists who our economy is based on. Since our economy is based on this, maybe you should care as well. I have no doubt these vehicle will cause accidents. A normal size vehicle can barely pass bikes and pedicabs on Duval or Whitehead right now. Do you really think trolleys, trains and ducks will not try to pass? There is always a straw that breaks the camels back. This is it. This vehicle us HUGE. It is a hummer on steroids and makes the Trolleys look quaint. Where will they go when Duval is closed for another street fair. Where will the competing ducks go? This is a tipping point and anyone who cares about quality tourism better wake up now.

Did you really take this entry serious

Submitted on Wed, 06/13/2012 - 8:20pm by iwasdoomedonce
are you kidding me, this is not the straw that broke the camels back, it's the drop of water that did the duck in. Take the ride then make your decision. That driver will make money, pay taxes, buy staples at Publix, pay your luxury tax and keep the economy vibrant. Do you think Duval will experience any more than it already does. There is only so many hours in a day. Everyone will make it to the end of the parade route

Your post makes no sense.

Submitted on Mon, 06/18/2012 - 8:57am by *.* CLEARLY the original
The one driver will barely make enough to make ends meet, which is the norm for a Swift employee. He won't be keeping any economy vibrant. He will just be slowing traffic on land, and then dragging street filth into our waters.

And 'luxury tax'? Really? What color is the sky in your world?

Pay my luxury tax? What you

Submitted on Fri, 06/15/2012 - 1:04pm by 666
Pay my luxury tax? What you you talking about? You must be back on the bottle and the pipe.

How Is It

Submitted on Tue, 06/12/2012 - 6:37am by NativeConch67
That Ed Swift, who owes millions in back taxes and is losing property to foreclosure, can afford a new venture?

Amazing, isn't it?

Submitted on Thu, 06/14/2012 - 3:09pm by *.* CLEARLY the original
Why won't the city and Monroe County hold him accountable? What does he have on them? Yuck - the whole Swift empire is made up of slime, top to bottom!

Dont Forget to Duck........

Submitted on Tue, 06/12/2012 - 6:09am by Conch Harbor
Because I think you will have a lot of "special enforcement" pointed in your direction.

Just What We Need

Submitted on Tue, 06/12/2012 - 5:55am by
More cattle boats for hire hauling goobers around the streets and harbor. When is enough enough? The tackiness of this island has far exceeded the limits of outrageousness. Do we have no shame? Honestly, this place has become a characature of itself. This town looks like a haggard county fair. Whats next? A bearded lady and her pet unicorn on exhibit at Mallory Square?

low rent

Submitted on Wed, 06/13/2012 - 9:11pm by Charles Darwin
A bearded lady and her unicorn would be considered classy in Key West.
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