- 11/05/2009 02:00
PANAMA. When The North and South Corridors opened ten years ago their main aim was to ease the vehicular traffic flow to and from the suburbs of the capital city.
At first they achieved that, but currently their efficiency and the high cost of the tolls have become a source of constant distress for drivers.
They became an important topic during the last electoral campaign and there were talks about nationalizing them and giving free access during the rush hour.
The Public Works deputy minister, Luis Hernández said that currently an audit of the Mexican company Pycsa that manages both corridors, is under way, because the company cannot increase the tolls unilaterally.
The Public Works Ministry, after a meeting with the South Corridor administrators, managed to adjust the toll prices but the criticism continues, mainly due to the attitude of the company according to drivers who use the expressway everyday.
Currently to drive through the North Corridor from Albrook to Brisas del Golf takes about 20 minutes and costs $3.65 for a car. To cover the same route using alternate roads could take 42 minutes.
The corridors due to the high toll prices and the low quality of the service have not met the demand of the drivers who live in the suburbs.
The former president of the Consumers Association of Panama, Pedro Acosta said that the corridors have only transferred the traffic jams from the traditional routes to the expressway points of exit.
Acosta added that drivers should stop using the corridors to see how the government is going to solve the traffic jams and what the Mexican company will do when nobody utilizes their expressways.
