55 Buses Fined For Lack Of Handicap Ramps
As promised, the Consejo de Transporte Público (CTP) took to the streets, Paseo Colón, in this case, to fine buses that were operating without the required handicap ramps, a requirement by Ley No. 7600 tha came into effect on June 1 and following the rejection of an appeal to the Constitutional Court.

In total, 55 buses were fined on Thursday.

Buses on routes from Guanacaste and Alajuela were included in the operation that saw Tránsito (traffic) officials issued fines from ¢10.000 to ¢30.000 colones.

The fines were not issued solely for the lack of the handicap ramps, but rather for failure to comply with the other requirements of Ley No/ 7600, that include "anti slip" floors, preferred seating for seniors and the handicapped and luminous buttons to ask the driver to make a stop.

The worse of the situation is that the bus operators now have 90 days to outfit the buses singled out by the traffic officials, including the installation of the bus ramp that some say will cost up to ¢4 million colones (us$7.800) or lose the right to circulate. In addition, the company can face the possible cancellation of the route concession.

Bus operators have vowed to fight and will be placing pressure on government agencies, letting them know that it is unfair and unjust to force them to install handicap ramps on "all" buses. Bus operators say they are the only ones to comply with the law and say that 12% of the national fleet complies with the requirement of Ley No. 7600 and that the Ministerio de Obras Públicas y Transportes (MOPT) is pushing against them.

"The government has not fulfilled its promise to fix the roads. the municipalities have not outfitted the bus stops (for handicap use), so why are they against us (the bus operators)?" complained Alfredo Villalobos, representing the organized bus operators.

Villalobos added that to comply completely with the new requirements the bus fares should be increased by 300% to finance the cost of adapting some 8.000 or so buses.

For her part, vice minister of transport, Viviana Martín, said the that bus operators have to comply with the law and it has nothing to do what the government has done or not done. "Effectively nothing has been done during the last 10 years by previous administrations and we are now inheriting the problem", said Martín, responding to bus operators who have had the last 10 years to make the modifications to their fleet.