www.CostaRicaTicas.com

Here's why there are all those buses downtown and elsewhere greatly adding to the horrendous gridlock. To go to a lateral community or area, you first still need to take a bus downtown to catch another bus to take you back out to the lateral commmunity, i.e., to go 5 miles you have to go 30. It's their country or really whomever is running it, but the people surely cannot want this. Inside Costa Rica ran this Friday July 15:

"Intersectoral Buses Stalled For Two Years

If you are one of the many waiting for the "intersectoral" buses, the wait will be even longer, as the Ministerio de Obras Públicas y Transportes (MOPT) announced the shelving of the project for two years more.

Since 2008, the MOPT - then under the management of the Karla Gonzalez - has been working on getting the intersectoral or "interlinea" bus system running.

In fact, the routes were established, concessions were granted, the buses purchased and the bus stops marked, but the project fell apart when losing concessionaires filed appeals and court challenges, alleging imprioprieties in the process.

The MOPT tried, on several occasions, to revive the plan, beginning a new tender process and at least twice a year since announcing the that the bus system would start shortly. The last announcement was that the buses would start rolling by the end of this year at the latest. This announcement was made last month.

But, following a series of false promises, the bus system will now have to wait at least two more years. In Costa Rican terms it means the end of the project.

The objective of the intersectoral buses is to save on fuel consumption, congestion of downtown San José and save users time.

Currently travel from Escazú to Alajuelita, neighboring communities, means taking a bus from either destination to downtown San José and then to the other side.

The intersectoral would run between the communities without the need to travel to downtown San José. The original plan set out a series of routes as a ring around San José, allowing travel from Santa Ana to Escazú to Alajuelita to Desamparados to Moravia to Valencia and Belen in Heredia and back to Santa Ana."

If the idea makes sense, chances are it won't get enacted, at least for many years. One has to wonder if Laura's administration is even researching the idea. Does CR even have a 'Transportation agency'? Does she ever give news conferences? You'd think the media would be asking questions. Perhaps most of the media is too 'close' to the administration? Nothing surprises me anymore about CR. Look at the recent currency fiasco for an example.

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"In a nation ruled by swine, all pigs are upwardly mobile, and the rest of us are phucked until we can put our acts together; not necessarily to win, but mainly to keep from losing completely"...Hunter S. Thompson (RIP)