🚲 Mobility

Central Valley Centralized Traffic Control Upgrade

San Jose's centralised traffic-signal system launched with 325 intersections in November 2007 under MOPT and contractor Semex, and has grown into a 474-signal network spanning San Jose, Alajuela, Heredia and Cartago, all watched from one Traffic Control Center and mostly converted to solar power by 2019 -- though a lapsed maintenance contract left its electronics unrepaired for two years afterward.

Live 📅 since 2007

🤖 AI-generated summary of the sources below — how this works · 🔎 Last verified 2026-08-02

🚲 Mobility Traffic management Safety & security

🎓 Lesson

A complete, working signal network can still degrade quietly once its maintenance contract lapses: Costa Rica's traffic engineers went two years without electronics support before a new contract restored it.

Scale🗺️ Regional

📖 Terms in this entry: ANPR (automatic number-plate recognition) · Adaptive traffic signals · CBTC (communications-based train control)

Sources

↗ MOPT (authority)Ministry of Public Works and Transport, operator of the Traffic Control Center.

↗ La Nacion — MOPT quitara semaforos viejos de San Jose en dos semanas2007: confirms the 26 November 2007 launch of the centralized signal system across 325 intersections with contractor Semex.

↗ PV Magazine Latam — Ultima fase de colocacion de paneles solares en semaforos de San JoseSept 2019: confirms 474 signal systems monitored from the Traffic Control Center across the provincial capitals San Jose, Alajuela, Heredia and Cartago; final phase of the solar retrofit.

↗ La Nacion — MOPT estuvo dos anos sin mantenimiento de semaforos2021: independent confirmation the system was still operating under MOPT but its electronics/communications went two years without maintenance after Semex's initial warranty lapsed and was not renewed.

This overview was generated with AI from the public sources listed above and checked against them before publication. It has not had a complete human fact-check — treat it as a starting point and follow the sources.

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Compare this project

🇨🇴 SIMM Intelligent Mobility System & Traffic Control Center · Medellín Both run centrally watched camera networks where staff, not software, retime signals by hand — San Jose's spans four provinces since 2007. 🇺🇬 Kampala Traffic Control Centre (MODERATO) · Kampala Different funding, same idea: San Jose's signal network came from MOPT and a local contractor, Kampala's from Japan's JICA-funded MODERATO. 🇹🇷 Istanbul Traffic Control Center & Adaptive Signals (İSBAK) · Istanbul Both centralise traffic signals from one control room — Istanbul's adaptive ATAK cut delays 15-30%, San Jose's sat unrepaired for two years.

Explore the wider context

📟 A Reading Is Not a Decision 🚦 Traffic management guide 🏙️ San José city profile 🚲 Mobility projects

📎 Cite this project

1001 Smart Cities (2026). “Central Valley Centralized Traffic Control Upgrade” — San José, Costa Rica. The Smart City Atlas. https://1001smartcities.org/projects/san-jose-smart-traffic/ (last verified 2026-08-02). Data: CC BY 4.0.

The underlying data is free to reuse with attribution — see the open data page.

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