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Costa Rica buses

After Chaotic Scenes This Week, Buses in Costa Rica Increase Service

Government allows buses in Costa Rica to increase their services by 30% during the current restrictions.

In a turnaround last night, Costa Rica has increased the amount of buses on the road. The change comes in light of chaotic scenes this week of packed buses and long lines of people trying to get on them.

Last week, bus services were cut by 80% as part of the current mobility restrictions in Costa Rica’s orange-alert cantons. This includes all of San Jose and the Gran Area Metropolitano (GAM).

At the same time, the government restricted car usage to one day per week. With only 20% of buses running, no trains, and no-one allowed to drive, people still needed to get to work. This led to long lines at bus stops and crowded buses, impossible for any sort of social distancing.

Now, as of midnight last night, bus companies can increase their operations from 20% to 50%. This still leaves half of buses not running, but will hopefully allow some modicum of comfort and social distancing for commuters.

These rules affect buses with routes of less than 75 kilometers, meaning all regular city buses in the GAM.

People in the GAM rely on buses, especially the poor and those working in the informal economy.

Cutting bus schedules by 80% is another example of how much the COVID-19 measures affect the poor.

Some people can work from home, but many in Costa Rica don’t have that luxury. They need to work to feed their families, and stuffing them face-to-armpit in buses is unneccesarily cruel.

“I need to go to work, we must eat. I have nothing, no husband,” Alajuelita resident Lucia Cano told Semanario Universidad today.

In Costa Rica, if you don’t work, you don’t eat. The bono proteger never arrived for many (most?) people, and the government still has no “Plan B” to pay them out.

If the government won’t/can’t help people feed their families, then the very least they can do is lay on more public transport for them to get to work safely, not less.

James Dyde is the editor of www.centralamerica.com. He lives in Escazu, Costa Rica.

James Dyde

James Dyde

James Dyde is a British immigrant to Costa Rica and the editor of this website. He has lived in Central America since 2000 and retains a deep love for the region. He lives in Escazu, Costa Rica.