A feature in El Caribe focuses on how commuters have to endure long traffic jams at peak hours to get to work. The traffic jams result in wasted time and excess fuel consumption.
The interviewees were in favor of staggering working hours to decongest traffic in Greater Santo Domingo. Recent government solutions such as overpasses and underpasses and the Santo Domingo Metro have not been enough to provide relief from the peak hour traffic jams that are mainly caused by the growing number of vehicles on the roads. The Tax Agency (DGII) reports that as of December 2015 there were 3,612,964 vehicles in circulation of which 26.2% was owned by drivers in the National District and a further 16.1% in the Province of Santo Domingo, mainly circulating in Greater Santo Domingo.
Minister of the Presidency Gustavo Montalvo has said he is studying proposals to change public sector working hours, an idea that has the support of the Public Administration Ministry. One of the proposals suggests that government offices start at 9am and close at 4pm.
