Taxi "Tortugas" Will Be Fined, Transport Minister Says; San José Target Today
The government has had enough. As of today it will begin to fine taxistas "totugas" ¢5.000 colones if they travel on the highway as speeds of 40 Kph (25 mph) or less. Viviana Martín, viceministra de Transportes, Ministerio de Obras Públicas y Transportes (MOPT) announced yesterday.

Since Monday, taxi drivers have been staging rotating protests on the nations highways to pressure the government into making the "porteo" - informal taxi service - illegal and remove them from the streets. The taxi drivers also want the government to stop the "piratas" or illegal taxis that are cutting into their business and placing the public at risk.

To demonstrate their feeling, taxi drivers have been effecting what is locally known as "tortuguismo" - driving at a turtle pace - along the nation's highways, affecting the flow of traffic.

The action began Monday with the Quepos - San José route. On Tuesday, hundreds of taxis caused traffic jams in the areas of the Juan Santamaría airport, causing a countless number of people to be later or miss their flight or be late for work.

The highway around the airport came to an almost complete standstill in the morning rush hour traffic and very slow for most of the day.

Wednesday, taxi drivers centred their action on the Limón province, slowing down traffic on Route 32 and the Braulio Carillo highway, the main thoroughfare between San José, Guapiles, Siquirres and the port of Limón.

Martín said the directive to fine taxi drivers is based on article 82 of the Ley de Tránsito (traffic laws) and only applies to the highways like the General Cañas (San José Alajuela and the main route to the airport), the Fernando Prospero, the Bernardo Soto, the Braulio Carillo, etc. where there exists a minimum speed limit.

On side streets there is no minimum speed limits and thus drivers cannot be fined.

The vice minister explained that her officers will be handing out fines to areas where there is a concentrated effort by taxi drivers to slow down or affect the flow of traffic, especially in high traffic areas like the Circunvalación, La Uruca and the autopista General Cañas.

Gerardo Hidalgo, a leader of taxis in Limón, said yesterday that the "tortugismo" is necessary so that the government listen to their concerns. However, some drivers interviewed along route 32 yesterday, where traffic delays meant that it took hours to travel a distance where it normal took minutes, didn't have any nice words of the protesting taxi drivers.

The slowdowns are expected to continue today in the ZSan José areas and on the Interamerican Sur, the main road into and out of Panama and other points in Golfito and San Vito.

Taxi drivers say that the "porteadores", drivers who have been granted legal permission to provide door-to-door taxi service to their customers are actually hiding behind the permits and are "piratas" or illegal taxi service and at a lower price than the official taxis.

Piratas operate similar to a regular taxi, picking up fares on the streets and in some cases use a "maria" (taximeter) to calculate the dare. In contrast, porteadores, have contracts with customers to pick them up at a specific location and take them to their destination at an agreed price, similar or lower to that of the official taxis.

The government, in responding to the problem, offered 2.000 porteadores taxi-like permits. However, the porteadores refused the offer, which confirms that official taxi drivers position that they, the porteadores, don't want to be regulated and play by the same rules as they have to.

Official taxis pay for a taxi license plate, pay annual license fees, must have proper insurance and now have to wear a uniform - white shirt and blue pants. All official taxis have to be red and be clearly marked.