Toll Booth On Route To Los Cabos Airport Causing Traffic Delays For Tourists Heading Home

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Last Updated 1 year ago

Recently the vice president of the national travel agencies of Mexico, Sergio Gonzalez Rubiera, visited Los Cabos to provide a voice to the concerns of multiple tourists. According to Gonzalez Rubiera, many travelers have had trouble while driving down the highway that connects the main Cabo San Lucas hotel zone and the international airport in San Jose del Cabo. The main issue is that the toll booth facilities seem to be outdated and understaffed. 

This has caused long lines at the toll booth, and in some cases, tourists have missed their flights due to these delays. A quick tip for tourists that are flying out of the Los Cabos international airport in San Jose del Cabo is to make sure they leave for the airport with enough time to spare before the flight.

Also, travelers are forced to carry cash to pay at the toll booth. No credit card or other form of payment is accepted. This is something that Gonzalez Rubiera is looking to change.  

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These Toll Booths Are Controlled By A Federal Agency    

The fix for this particular problem would seem simple enough. One of the issues that is causing the traffic, for example, is the fact that out of the 6 slots available to collect the fee from drivers only two are used at a time. That situation could potentially be fixed by hiring more toll booth operators to work on the site. The problem is this is a decision that can’t be made at the local level. 

The road that goes from the international airport in San Jose del Cabo to the main hotel zone in Cabo San Lucas is run by CAPUFE, which is the federal agency in charge of Mexican toll highways. Any decisions when it comes to adding staff or even implementing new technology to ensure that credit cards are accepted at the booth have to come from the federal level. 

This makes what could potentially be considered an easy fix something much more complex. The vice president of the national travel agencies union had this to say on the issue. 

“This is an issue that we’ve all seen, there are really long lines to get past the toll booth. This elevates the possibility that tourists will miss their flights. Even if they don’t miss their flight, they have to face the anxiety of thinking that they will miss their flights. This is not a good experience for the destination on top of the traffic jams that are caused by the issue. We are operating like an “Oxxo” store; one cashier works, and the other doesn’t.”      

When Is The Issue Going To Be Fixed? 

The vice president of the travel agencies union mentioned that he would be attending meetings with relevant authorities to be able to come to a consensus on a potential fix for the issue. Essentially Sergio Gonzalez Rubiera was sent to Los Cabos to lobby on behalf of tourists that use travel agencies to book their trips to Los Cabos. He’s likely going to try and pressure federal authorities in charge of the toll road to get the situation fixed. 

At this point, though, there’s no clear timetable on when tourists and locals who travel on the popular road can expect to see their wait times diminish. The hope is that this political pressure that is being applied can help ensure that at least more toll booths will remain open throughout the day to ease some of the traffic issues. For the time being, travelers headed to board a flight at the Cabo airport would do well to leave early for their flights to ensure that they’re able to avoid any issues.