About 40,000 Extra Cars Hit the Streets of San Jose this Monday.

This week has been a traffic nightmare throughout the Costa Rican capital city of San Jose after the Ministry of Transportation (MOPT) was forced to cut their vehicle restriction initiative that limited the transit of certain cars according to their license plate number during rush hour traffic. The restriction was put into affect at the end of 2008 along with the Costa Rican government’s latest set of traffic laws, which have been under public scrutiny ever since.

Without the restriction on cars, which affected all drivers wishing to enter the metropolitan area one day each week, this week’s traffic has increased an estimated 20 to 30 percent, or around 40,000 extra vehicles each day. This caused congestion and traffic delays, and affected travel times proportionally.

The decision was made due to a Supreme Court ruling that declared the vehicle restriction unconstitutional and a violation of freedom of transit rights. Many people argued that the public bus system was not a safe alternative means of transportation, while many drivers live miles from the nearest bus stop, further complicating their travels.

Anyone on the roads these past two days is likely feeling a tinge of regret for any past complaints about the law, which also aimed to decrease fuel consumption by nearly $3 million each year. You may or may not be happy to know that the Transit Law will be revised and released in September, when the vehicle restriction will likely be reinforced.

As one driver clarified a nation’s frustrations “if the city’s congestion is a product of the poor streets and infrastructure, why should the drivers be the ones to pay?”. In this nation where a new highway may take more than 30 years to realize, the true source of such problems is buried below the surface in never-ending bureaucracy and misplaced spending.

Costa Rica, one of the richest nations in the region, was ranked 118th out of 133 nations throughout the world for the quality of their road ways according to a report by the World Economic Forum.

If you’ve been here for long enough, it should be obvious that no government solution is a quick solution. One recommendation is that community groups organize a park n ride and carpool to the city with your neighbors.

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Filed under: Costa Rica News on June 16th, 2009