Taxis Ordered To Have
"Talking Meters" Within
Two Months
"¢2.000 colones, por
favor" will not be the
voice of your taxi
driver, but that of the
taxi meters or "marías"
that taxis have been
ordered by the
magistrates of the Sala
Cuarta - Constitutional
Court - within the next
two months.
The court ordered the
"talking" meters after a
"recurso de amparo" by a
man identified as Gamboa
Mora, who is blind, and
found that taxi drivers
would charge between
¢1.000 and ¢1.500 for a
ride of the same
distance he would take
frequently.
Gamboa's argument to the
judges was that the taxi
drivers were taking
advantage of the fact
that he is blind, that
the charges were
excessive for the short
distance and could not
corroborate the charges
on the "maría".
Judgement 2008-16409
orders Viviana Martín
Salazar, as president,
and Javier Vargas Tencio,
as executive director of
the Consejo de
Transporte Público
(CTP), or any other
person who is in
authority, to adopt
measures to ensure that
within two months, taxis
have an auditory system
so that the blind can
verify the charges on
the meter.
For his part, Maikol
Sosa, general manager of
the Federación Nacional
de Cooperativas de Taxi
(Fenacotaxi) - taxi
union - feels that the
talking "marías" should
only be installed in
taxis for the disabled
and not all taxis.
The law calls for 10% of
the 13.000 taxi
concessions or 1.300
taxis be adapted for the
handicapped. However, to
date only 200 taxis are
so equipped. The
remaining 1.100
concessions are still
waiting for bidders. No
one appears interested
in a handicapped taxi
concession, say CTP
officials.
Sosa feels that the
equipping 100% of the
taxis with the "talking
meters" is out of
proportion. The union
leader, said without
being accused of being
discriminatory "the
percentage of the
(handicapped) population
is minimal."
To install the "maría
habladoras" (talking
meters) taxi operators
have to invest in new
equipment. The Sala
magistrates, in
rendering their decision
on this case, reminded
that a similar order had
been made in 2005 and
was never complied with. |
