Stop & Go

Through the civic generosity of local merchants, Managua (pop. 100,000) got its first traffic lights last month. Now that it has nine on the main streets, the capital's 207 taxi drivers have pretty well got the hang of the gadgets, and pedestrians have stopped bellowing from the sidewalks the meaning of red, green and amber. Most Managua citizens agree that the lights are modern and efficient, and that they really have not slowed traffic down very much. One unexpected hitch did develop: oxcarts, starting from scratch on a green light, could just barely cross the street before the signal turned red again. Readjusting the lights would have been a tricky business, but city officials found a neater solution of the problem: oxcarts were banned from the main streets.

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