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Costa Rica Sanitary Driving Restrictions Back In Effect

After a reprieve for the Presidential and National Assembly elections traffic restrictions are back in force.

Starting last night at midnight, February 8th, vehicles cannot be on the road until 5 a.m. unless possessing the proper exemptions.

The restrictions on odd and even plates have started today once again for the Greater Metropolitan Area (GAM) circulating the San Jose area.

Plates ending in 5 and 6 will be restricted from the GAM tomorrow.

When the sanitary vehicle restriction back in place, the typical list of exceptions — which includes rental vehicles, people driving to/from a hotel reservation, people driving to/from the airport and people driving to/from work or school — continues to apply. The official list of exceptions can be found here.

The San José restricted area is shown in the image below. It has existed for many years to reduce road congestion. Circulation is restricted based on the last digit of a vehicle’s license plate:

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