Interlinéa Buses Stalled
Again
On Tuesday, the
regulation that would
allow the bid to be
awarded on Wednesday to
get the Interlinéa (intersectoral)
buses running was
published in the
official government
publication, La Gaceta,
however, there was one
little snag, the Consejo
de Transporte Público
(CTP) missed one little
detail.
Article 361 of the Ley
General de
Administración Pública
calls for a 10 working
day period for the bid
process, something that
CTP officials overlooked
in their haste to award
the concession and get
the buses rolling by the
end of the month.
Officials of the
Ministerio de Obras
Pública y Tránsportes
(MOPT) recognized the
error after the
Executive order was
published and stalled
accepting offers waiting
out the 10 day legal
period.
So, once again, the
Interlinéa buses sit
idle at the La Uruca
parking lot.
"Taking in consideration
the urgent need for the
service, we have decided
to wait patiently for
the legal period,
assuring a clean and
transparent process",
said the Viceministra de
Transportes, Viviana
Martín.
The Interlinéa buses
were set to begin
operating on June 6,
however an appeal to the
Constitutional Court by
one of the losers of the
bid for a concession,
stalled the start of
operations.
According to María Elena
Fonseca, legal
representative for
Barrantes Araya and the
Periférica, the losers
on the first concession
bid, the 10 day waiting
period is not the only
error in the government
decree.
Fonseca said that the
government should have
published the
regulations prior to
opening and closing the
bid the same day, giving
bus operators time to
prepare.
Fonseca added that what
the government is trying
to do is to copy exactly
what it did in the last
bid, giving the
concession for the seven
routes to the same
operators, giving
priority in the bid to
those operators who
presented a better and
newer fleet of buses.
The lawyer also added
that the government
decree does not take
into consideration the
environmental impact
study, contravening
Article 50 of the
Political Constitution
of the country.
What all this means is
that getting the
Interlinéa buses running
may not be as easy as
transport officials
thought. Although it is
not known if Fonseca and
her group will appeal
the process, there is
the strong possibility
that the buses may be
rolling for some time
yet.
Once rolling, the
Interlinéa buses would
eliminate the need for a
stop in downtown San
José to transfer buses.
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