Courtesy of InsideCostaRica.com
Following years of operating as a "special" concession, the orange airport taxis operated by the Taxis Unidos Aeropuerto at the Aeropuerto Internacional Juan Santamaría (San José) will have to join the tender process.
Airport Juan Santamaría Taxi
That was the decision by the Procuraduría de la Ética on Saturday, April 23, following a citizen complaint. The orange taxis have been the only taxi service to operate from the airport, excluding the formal taxis from picking up fares unless they responding to a call from a customer.
The airport taxis are operating contrary to regulations emitted by executive decree in November 2000, where the airport was deemed a location of public interest and a special regulation. Eight years later nothing has been done, meanwhile the airport taxis keep working with a permit and not a concession, which is the norm for all the rest of the country.
According to the Procuraduría, the situation goes against te principles of "transparency" and telling the Consejo de Transporte Público (CTP) to take the necessary action so that airport taxi plates are issued by concession.
Viviana Martín, vice-minister of the Ministerio de Obras Públicas y Transportes (MOPT) and president of the CTP, assures that the tender process for airport taxi plates will begin soon, once the regulations for taxi operation at the Santamaría is approved and published.
The moment we publish the bidding process, all is erased and we begin anew; those who today have a base of operation, some 100 cars, will not have any type of privilege, said Martín.
The vice-minister added that the tender process will be from a fresh start and without mentioning the name of Taxis Unidos, was clear that they will too have to make a new proposal and will be treated equally with all the other proposals submitted, with no special favor or consideration to their last eight years of operating at the airport.
CTP officials have not said how many plates will be available for concession at the Santamaría, the exact number will depend on a report by technicians who will analyze the need for or not of taxis on a national level. Martín indicated that the only stumbling block in opening the bid is the publication of the regulations and the details of the study.
