Buses To Be Outfitted For the Handicapped Or Taken Off the Streets
The Sala Constitucional de la Corte Suprema de Justicia or Sala IV, yesterday rejected a "recurso amparo" - appeal - by Cooperativa de Transporte Remunerado de Personas de Moravia y Sectores Circunvecinos, which asked the court to refute artículo 66 de la Ley de Igualdad de las Personas Discapacitadas (ley 7600).

The bus operators asked the court to suspend the fines stipulated in the law that forces all public transport vehicles to have handicap ramps installed. The fine is between ¢10.000 and ¢30.000 colones.

The bus operators argue that only 2% of the population is handicapped and that outfitting the entire bus fleet is expensive and will add to the cost of fares, that all riders will have to bear. At this time only 8% of all buses in the country are outfitted with access ramps for the handicapped.

The Constitutional Court decision means that the bus operators have three months to complete the process of outfitting their vehicles or face constant fines and the possibility of losing the route concession.

Olman Bonilla, representing the bus operators, assures that there is no way that the law can be complied with. Olman assured that his group will not give up on pressuring the government to lower the requirement to 10% of the fleet.

For her part, Viviana Martín, viceminister of the Ministerio de Obras Públicas y Transportes (MOPT), the fines begin today and that Avenida 10 will be the first "operativo", that along wit the Policía de Tránsito and the Departamento de Inspección y Control del Consejo Nacional de Vialidad, will be inspecting buses along the route and issuing fines in accordance with the law.

Martín added that the bus company that operates the Pavas concession will be main target of today's operation. The vice minister assured that the buses not complying with the law will only fine one time, but will be taken off the streets if the unit is then not modified to meet the requirements of artículo 66 de la Ley 7600.