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Port-au-Prince goes high-tech: solar-powered traffic signals
Traffic in Haiti’s congested capital is a nightmare, with narrow winding streets often so packed with pedestrians and vendors there barely seems space for vehicles.
For decades, drivers have largely ignored stop signs and red lights, the streets instead governed by a free-for-all ethic that leaves most foreign visitors holding their breath, if not closing their eyes in prayer. With electrical power service spotty at best, the red lights never seemed to work anyway. But now solar-powered traffic signals have been installed at key intersections all over Port-au-Prince. With their attached battery banks, the lights operate 24/7, towering above the chaos in an optimistic attempt at imposing a bit of order. Somewhat unbelievably, drivers obey, dutifully stopping on red and waiting to go - at least most of the time - until the signals turn green. Sometimes the cars even wait in orderly lines, a true novelty. But a block past the new signals laissez-faire descends again, horns blaring as giant trucks do U-turns in the middle of the street or lines of cars veer into oncoming lanes to dodge broken-down vehicles. Old habits seem hard to break.
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