Green wave proposed to ease city traffic nightmare

WORKING on government projects on Sundays, and creating a “green wave”on Calle 50 during rush hours are some of the suggestions put forward by Panama’s Chamber of Commerce to ease the growing traffic snarl in the city.

Jorge Garcia, chairman of the Chamber’s transportation committee, says the plan for Calle 50, one of the city’s worst bottle necks, is to leave the traffic lights on green to speed up the movement of vehicles during peak hours (morning and afternoon) and to establish a dedicated lane for the movement of Metro Bus

The committee also called for labor on construction sites on Sundays, to reduce the time that citizens will affected by the traffic jams.
ATTT director, Roberto Moreno, said that talk of "green wave" requires a consensus of those affected to make a decision, as other streets and areas of the capital city would have to adjust the movement of cars.
Moreno said that 80% of the city’s “intelligent” traffic lights have been misconfigured since 2010, when the Ministry of Public Works began implementing various road projects.
Critics say that this is another example of the lack of overall planning and the rush to complete multiple projects to fit a political agenda
The president of the Panamanian Society of Engineers and Architects Rodrigo Sanchez, said the "green wave" seems to be a good initiative, but agrees with Moreno that it must be studied.
"In the capital we need more action to help improve vehicular traffic, and traffic inspectors have to put order into road traffic," said Sanchez.