Tránsitos Do Not Take
Advantage of
Modern Technology In
Issuing Tickets
Last October the
Ministerio de Obras
Públicas y Transportes (MOPT)
spent ¢260 million
colones (us$500.000) to
purchase 180 handheld
units to issue traffic
tickets. However, today
not one unit is use, as
Tránsitos (traffic
officials) say they are
uncomfortable, obsolete
and difficult to use.
Tránsitos, it appears,
prefer to continue use
the traditional "partes"
- paper tickets - saying
they are easier to use
and much faster to fill
out.
All 180 handhelds units
were assigned to a
select number of
Tránsitos. The concept
was that the official
would use the handheld
electronic device to
issue a ticket to the
offending driver, print
out a receipt or "boleta"
printed on a mobile
printer connected to the
handheld by way of "bluetooth"
and in minutes ready to
issue another.
The official would then,
at the end of the shift,
connect the handheld
into a computer - either
at the station or at
home - that was
connected to the
internet and download
all the "partes" or
tickets, which would
then be added to the
mainframe database,
eliminating the need for
each parte to be typed
in by office staff.
However, complications
with handhelds included
problems with the
operating software, the
need to have the printer
close by, limited by the
range of the bluetooth
and battery conditions
of both the handheld and
the thermal printer, the
inavailability of a
computer and the
internet frustrated many
of the Tránsitos.
A paper ticket takes on
average four minutes to
fill out while the
handheld would take some
15 minutes, according to
the Tránsitos.
Some of the Tránsitos
continue to use the
handhelds while the
majority are being kept
at home.
Germán Marín, director
of the Policía de
Tránsito, says that the
units are not being
wasted away and are in
use. The Tránsitos
issued the devices got
training on their use
and assures that the
complaints by his
officers are more to
"reluctance to change"
from the traditional
than to using a
sophisticated piece of
equipment that take more
time to learn to use.
Despite the director's
assurance that the units
are in use, it is
difficult to spot a
Tránsito with the
handheld in hand.
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