Travel Safety Ecuador

January 14, 2010

QUITO - CURBING GRIDLOCK DURING RUSH HOURS

For years Quito has suffered gridlock and severe pollution problems. The last several years of increased vehicle imports has not helped matters. Currently, it is estimated that there are 415,000 vehicles on the road daily. The number is increasing by about 30,000 per year. At that rate there will be 1,290,000 vehicles on the road in Quito in 2025.

The mayor has instituted a new program that restricts vehicles on the or road during rush hours. The determining factor will be a different number each day will be used to determine what vehicle not to be used (last digit of license plate). Quito currently has about 1.3 people per vehicle which is considerably lower than other countries. Part of the effort is to increase the number of people per vehicle. The mayor is also considering changing operation hours of city facilities.

Analysis: Ecuador in the past year has placed into law, serious rules for pedestrians. However, it appears from observations both in Quito and Guayaquil, that for the most part they are ignored by pedestrians. It will be interesting to see if the residents of Quito follow the new driving rules. In 2009 there was a bicycle day to encourage residents to use them for transportation. It was not very successful.

TRAFFIC QUITO

(ECUADORTRAVELADVISORY.COM)