Traffic congestion

Traffic congestion

Guayaquil is the largest city in Ecuador with approximately 2.5 million people. There are many problems in this city such as: pollution, crimes, corruption, bad architecture andpropagandas, education and others. Traffic congestion is a huge problem in Guayaquil caused by the amount of cars and the daily car accidents, but this can be solved by using the “Pico y placa” law,by following the “designated driver” program and by demanding drivers to go to driving schools.

The amount of cars increases every year. According to the CTG (Ecuador’s Transit Commission) in 2000there were 290.752 cars, and now in 2011 there are 620.393 cars. This is a serious problem because there’s an increase of contamination and traffic congestion. Also it is harder to find parking, andthis is the cause for many people to get late to work and to other places.

A solution for this extreme increase of cars is to apply the “Pico y placa” law, which is now being applied in Quito. It’sa measure that regulates the traffic, by prohibiting certain cars circulating for a few hours each day, according to the last number of the license plate, in a particular area of Quito. The word“Pico” refers to the hours when traffic congestion is greater, like the rush hours, and “Placa” refers to the last digit of the license plate of each vehicle. If that last number is 1 or 2 then the car can’tbe seen on the street on Monday during rush hours, if it is 3 or 4 it will be on Tuesday, and so on. Every vehicle has only one day of restriction every week and for only six hours. On weekends there’sno control for any car.

Another cause of this problem is the number of daily car accidents, which can be the consequence of the inexperience of the drivers. On July of 2011 there were 279 caraccidents caused by people exceeding the permitted speed, and because trucks usually carry many people in the back, and due to the bad roads people fall and they get hurt, and they could be hit by...