Costa Rica eliminates weekday national vehicle restrictions starting Monday

Costa Rica is eliminating its national weekday vehicle restrictions starting Monday, February 8.

The National Emergency Commission (CNE) says the change corresponds to reductions in new coronavirus cases and hospitalizations.

Starting Monday, February 8, the driving restrictions will be as follows:

• On weekdays (5 a.m. to 10 p.m.): Daytime restrictions will only apply to the San José city area. See a map of the “Restricted Zone” in the image below.
• On weekends (5 a.m. to 10 p.m.): National restrictions continue to apply:
  • Saturdays: Vehicles with license plates ending in ODD numbers cannot drive.
  • Sundays: Vehicles with license plates ending in EVEN numbers (including zero) cannot drive.
• A nationwide nighttime restriction will continue to be enforced every night between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m.

via CNE

The “Restricted Zone” corresponds to the downtown San José area that for years has had restrictions based on license plates. In that area only:

• Mondays: Vehicles with license plates ending in 1 or 2 cannot drive.
• Tuesdays: Vehicles with license plates ending in 3 or 4 cannot drive.
• Wednesdays: Vehicles with license plates ending in 5 or 6 cannot drive.
• Thursdays: Vehicles with license plates ending in 7 or 8 cannot drive.
• Fridays: Vehicles with license plates ending in 9 or 0 cannot drive.
• Weekends: The national restrictions apply, as indicated above.

The typical list of exceptions — which includes rental vehicles, people driving to/from a hotel reservation, and people driving to/from the airport — will continue to apply to the San José area and elsewhere. The official list of exceptions can be found here.

This story and its headline were updated to clarify that the weekend restrictions still apply.