Anarchy Reigns
In The Streets of San José
Taxi and bus drivers are, without a
question, the kings of the roads of San
José, as they control the streets of the
downtown core. It is not uncommon for buses
to stop wherever they choose to stop,
notwithstanding the marked bus stops and
taxi drivers stop and park as they choose,
where they choose, blocking traffic and
refusing to move.
This all in addition to the increased
congestion due to the removal of the
vehicular traffic restrictions of downtown
San José and surrounding areas.
According to the Dirección General de
Ingeniería de Tránsito (DGIT), traffic
congestion has increased dramatically and
the time to transit through San José has
increased by 200%.
Some of the worst roads are Avenida 2, 10, 7
and 3, which is used by the majority of
traffic moving through and around the Gran
Área Metropolitana (GAM).
And the adding the large number of buses and
taxis and ther lack of respect for the rules
of the road and common sense and decency,
makes the situation even worse.
Travelling from the Parque La Sabana on the
west side of Paseo Colon, along Avenida 2 to
Mall San Pedro on the east, can take almost
an hour today, less than half that with the
vehicular restrictions and even less, we can
only imagine, if the buses and taxis would
respect other drivers on the road.
It can take up to 20 minutes to driver from
the hospital San Juan de Dios to the Teatro
Nacional, a total of 10 blocks.
In addition to not respecting red lights and
stop signs, frequenlty one or more buses
block entire intersections as the downtown
core enters gridlock during morning and
afternoon weekday rush hours.
unior Araya, director of the DIGT, says that
the problem is increased by illegally parked
vehicles in all sectors of the downtown
area, where many of the main streets are
narrow as a parked vehicle reduces the two
lane road to one.
Some argue that Costa Ricans lack culture,
especially when they get behind the wheel of
a vehicle, losing all respect for other
drivers, pedestrians and anything that gets
in their way.
The lack of culture is evidenced daily by
drivers parking their vehicles anywhere,
even on the yellow curbs, blocking driveways
and traffic.
Avenida 2, the main west-east thoroughfare
through downtown San José has become one
huge parking lot, literally, come evenings
and weekends, as vehicles have been allowed
to park on the north side of the avenue
without traffic control of any kind.
The parking on Avenida 2 began several years
ago when the Municipality of San José
decided to allow the parking during the
Christmas season, painting parking lines on
the avenida, against a confrontation with
the Ministerio de Obras Publicas Y
Transportes (MOPT), which regulates traffic
controls in Costa Rica.
The lines were never erased and the
following year the tradition of street
parking on Avenida 2 became permanent.
German Marín, the director of the Policía de
Tránsito, has vowed to get tough on drivers
with more patrols and tow trucks. But, the
words have fallen on the deaf ears of
drivers, as the situation has not improved
since the director made the statement more
than a month ago.
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