RICO’s Q — Presidential candidate for the Avanza party, José Aguilar, got a first-hand experience of the “nightmare” traffic conditions in the Greater Metropolitan Area (GAM) of Costa Rica.
In the middle of rush hour, stuck in a sea of cars that seemed unable to move an inch Aguilar decided to abandon his car and “literally run” to the Colegio Federado de Ingenieros y de Arquitectos de Costa Rica (CFIA) – Federated College of Engineers and Architects of Costa Rica, headquarters in Curridabat so he wouldn’t be late for a meeting.
The amusing anecdote was recorded by his campaign team, who filmed him as he arrived, visibly tired and out of breath from the physical exertion.
“I’m coming from an incredible congestion. 10 km from my house, I spent 1 hour and 40 minutes getting to a meeting with the CFIA board of directors. I had to abandon my car and literally run so I wouldn’t waste any more time. Incredible. This is something we’re definitely going to fix at Avanza. We can’t continue like this. This is a nightmare,” said Aguilar.
The situation not only generated smiles among those present but also brought to light a problem that thousands of Costa Ricans experience every day: endless traffic jams, ruined schedules, and the feeling that time slips through their fingers on the streets.
The Serious Problem
Drivers in Costa Rica lose between 3 and 8 minutes traveling every 100 meters in traffic congestion, according to the 2024 Competitiveness Index.
Traffic congestion not only means lost time and fewer jobs, but also affects physical and mental health, raising stress levels.
Orotina, on the west side of the GAM, is the place where drivers waste the most time in traffic congestion, averaging 7 minutes and 33 seconds for every 100 meters traveled, while Cañas, in Guanacaste, is the place where the least amount of time is reported, at just 2 minutes and 4 seconds.
Santa Ana, Heredia, Alajuela, Santo Domingo, Escazú, San José, Curridabat, Montes de Oca, and Tibás report time losses ranging from 6 to 3 minutes per 100 meters.
The information is based on data from the Waze app, which records the average time to travel a stretch of road under free-flowing traffic conditions and compares it with other times when traffic congestion is reported.
The data is reported monthly and the average is calculated, according to the report from the Council for the Promotion of Competitiveness.
I don’t really need Waze to tell me how crappy the traffic is. I live way out west in Santa Ana and my business is smack dab in the center, so I have to figure out how to get back and forth through all the morning and afternoon traffic mess.
If I head out of here before 5 am, I can get to my shop in under 10 minutes. But between 6 and 9, it’s gonna take me at least half an hour. If I’m leaving to go home after 4 pm, I usually wait until after 8 pm to avoid traffic jams.
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