Protest Caravan to Santa Ana Could Slow Traffic West of San José

Drivers who carry tourists, students and workers around Costa Rica plan to drive a protest caravan from San José to Santa Ana this morning. If you’re heading west of the capital, expect delays as the convoy is set to leave the Gimnasio Nacional in La Sabana at 7:30 a.m. and reach the offices of the Regulatory Authority for Public Services (ARESEP) in Santa Ana around 8 a.m. Leave extra time, or check a live traffic app before you set out. If you have a school bus, a work shuttle or a tour transfer booked this morning, it may run late. The Association of Special Transport Operators (ATRAE SOS), which organized the protest, has warned that student, worker and tourism transport could all be affected. The group says it represents about 16,000 operators. Their complaint is about new fees in the 2027 marchamo, the annual vehicle registration every owner in Costa Rica has to pay. Special transport operators already pay a yearly fee to the Public Transport Council (CTP) for each vehicle. For 2027, ARESEP has added its own regulatory fee on top of that. The operators say this means they pay twice for the same van. ARESEP’s new fee for worker transport is 79,061 colones (about $176) for a microbus with up to 20 seats. It rises to 152,959 colones (about $340) for vehicles carrying 21 to 34 passengers, and 252,567 colones (about $561) for buses with 35 seats or more. The CTP fee goes up with fleet size. A company with one vehicle pays 103,574 colones (about $230). Companies with more than nine pay 319,571 colones (about $710) per vehicle. That scale is what has angered independent drivers most. Many own a single van but work under a permit leased from a larger company, and the group says they end up billed at the big-fleet rate. Marcos Chaves, vice president of ATRAE SOS, said it is unacceptable for an operator with one vehicle to pay as if they ran a large fleet. He said the fees ignore the sector’s economic reality and could put small and medium companies out of business. The group also argues that more vehicles doesn’t mean more income. Demand for private transport rises and falls, and a van can be booked solid one day and parked the next. ATRAE SOS wants ARESEP and the CTP to cancel the fees, publish the technical studies behind them and open talks with each part of the industry. It says no studies were released and affected operators were never consulted. If the fees stand, the group warns, operators could pass the extra cost on to the families, schools and businesses that hire them. ARESEP had not responded publicly as of early this morning. Whether the fees survive will affect what schools, employers and tour companies pay to move people around the country next year.