The Human Factor

You know what I like about the rainy season? The mornings. Boy, are they gorgeous. Sun just pouring down, birds singing, trees...well, they're pretty quiet actually. Big blue sky with the only clouds gathering picturesquely around the Irazu volcano, because it's pretty that way.

Seriously. That's a typical rainy season morning. Now, if we were to talk about rainy season afternoons that'd be a different story. Road to flooded to see the surface, anyone? But the mornings are beautiful.

And I get to experience a lot of them now, what with the commute.

And the commute has changed for the better in the past couple of days. Starting this week, they've turned the traffic lights right off at some of the stickiest intersections and stationed a bunch of traffic cops there instead. At the biggest roundabout too.

It's making a big difference. Except for that one time when there was a bus accident in the middle of the intersection, the cops keep the traffic flowing at its optimum rate, and a couple of my daily traffic jams are like 75% better now.

I'm thinking, if they keep it up, it's win/win/win:

• Drivers are happier, so morale increases nationwide. Well, okay. Among commuters in the San Jose metropolitan area. But that's a significant percentage of the national population.
• Less fuel is burned idling in traffic
• Less exhaust is generated by idling traffic
• And did I mention drivers are happier?

I approve.