How to Park (Or Sideline) a Vehicle in the Cities of Ecuador

From Cadisan I drove to the printing/furniture district near Avenida América and Calle Río de Janeiro to buy some furniture.

I parked on a side street near the furniture store I was going to.  It was one of my better parking efforts, but I was met by a man in a dark hat with the lettering 'Police' who informed me that I wasn't close enough to the curb and not close enough to the car parked in front of mine.

This is one of the zillions of 'vigilantes' who watch over your car or truck while you attend to your business in whatever neighborhood.

The giveaway that he was not an actual policeman was that the hat said Police and not Policía.

Anyway, he had no police powers and my parking was IMO near perfection, so I just ignored his guidance on how to adjust my car's position .. and went about my business.

An hour later I came back, tipped the vigilant one and prepared to drive over the store to pick up my purchase.  He asked me my nationality.

"Estadounidense," I told him.  USA.

"Oh, inglés," he said.

I didn't go into depth about the difference between USA and England, but I did say "No, es diferente."

The vigilante appreciated the tip.  He gave me good service in guiding me to back my car up so I could exit safely .. and then walked up to the next street corner to make sure the coast was clear for me to make a left turn on Calle Bogotá.  As I drove off, we exchanged a thumbs-up signal.

cccmedia in Quito

cccmedia wrote:

It was the worst experience I've ever had parking a car in the U.S. or Ecuador....

I parked there -- hopefully the last time I do so since there is another parking garage not far away -- there was near-constant horn honking louder than a car alarm and just as persistent.

I didn't think I would park at Cadisan again, but the location was just too convenient to my favorite Quito restaurant -- Cialcotel @ Patio Andaluz -- that I thought I would see if Cadisan was better for parking .. after dark.

It was literally night and day.

On a Friday night it was a breeze finding a space to park the car.  Many of the day workers had evidently driven away before my 8:15 p.m. arrival.

There were so many parking spaces that I only had to drive up one level from the street to find a good one, reducing the walking up or down stairs to a single staircase.

Gone was the persistent honking that assaulted my hearing at mid-afternoon on the first visit to Cadisan.

After dinner, a friendly 'vigilante' for Cadisan named Freddy chatted with me as he escorted me to my car.  He also guided me to the 'caja' where the cashier was hardly visible in an unlit booth.

The lesson seems obvious... if parking in El Centro, use Cadisan at night, find another parking option during weekday 9 to 5 hours.

cccmedia in El Centro, Quito

Pico y Placa .

Evidently, things changed in Quito during The Situation while I was out of town.  Cars had to be parked or driven outside a wide restricted area at designated times.

According to the rules that were in effect from June 2020 through June 2021...

If your license plate ended with an even number, you needed to keep your car parked or outside the restricted area during four days of the week 7-9:30 a.m. and 4 to 7:30 p.m.  The days of restriction were based on the last digit of any given license plate.

This was all changed effective this month, July 2021, as I will explain.

  -- cccmedia in Quito

Hoy No Circula.

Under the new rules of Hoy No Circula (Don't Drive Today), the do-not-drive periods in Quito are extended beyond rush hours to all day, 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., and the restrictions relative to license plates have changed.  This plan will be in effect the rest of this month of July, according to an article in El Universo (eluniverso.com).

However, there are no more restrictions on driving on Saturdays, Sundays and holidays.

What the city has in store for August 1 and beyond is unclear.  Maybe it will depend on how things go this month.

So for now and the rest of July, if the placa ends with 0, 1, 2 or 3, you may not drive in the restricted area on Mondays.

If it ends with 2, 3, 4 or 5, you may not drive in that area on Tuesdays.

So, for instance, if you have a license plate that ends with a 2 as mine does, you may not drive between 7 and 7 on both Monday and Tuesday.

If the plate ends with 4, 5, 6 or 7, driving in the restricted area is not allowed during the 12-hour period on Wednesdays.

If it ends with 6, 7, 8 or 9, no driving during restricted times in the area on Thursdays.

If it ends with 0, 1, 8 or 9, no driving during the 7 to 7 period on Fridays.

Google hoy no circula quito for more information.

  -- cccmedia

Hoy Circula.

Motor vehicles has changed the rules for driving in Quito .. and renamed the program from Hoy No Circula (Don't Drive Today) to Hoy Circula (Drive Today).

Despite the name change, the rules are now actually more restrictive than ever.

If your license plate ends with 0, 2, 4, 6 or 8, you're not supposed to drive in the restricted zone on Monday, Wednesday and Friday -- 4 a.m. to 11 p.m.!

If your plate ends with 1, 3, 5, 7 or 9, the restriction days are Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.

Sundays and holidays are free of the driving restrictions.

There is an escalating program of fines .. and cars can be seized if in violation of the restricted hours.

cccmedia in Quito

Revised Quito driving restrictions, through September 30, 2021.

There has been a partial roll-back of the restrictions through the end of next month.  Individual vehicles are now restricted on two days of the week in the designated 'urban' area instead of three .. and the daily restrictions on weekdays will end at 7 p.m. instead of 11 p.m.

The program has been renamed as the original theme Hoy No Circula.

Don't drive between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. on specified days below if your license plate ends with these numbers...

0-1-2-3...   Monday
2-3-4-5...   Tuesday
4-5-6-7...   Wednesday
6-7-8-9...   Thursday
0-1-8-9...   Friday

Weekends and holidays are restriction-free.

Example... Since my license plate ends with 2, I am not allowed to drive my car in the restricted area from 7 to 7 .. on Mondays and Tuesdays.

Source... El Universo

  -- cccmedia in Quito

How to lose track of your car

at Mall El Jardin.

This was my first time parking in the

multi-level parking facility at this fancy

mall on the North side of Quito.

As usual, I memorized the section I was in,

in this case 1-A near the adjoining 1-B.

However, an hour and a half later when I

returned with a grocery shopping cart

handled by a SuperMaxi assistant,

we couldn't locate my car.

it took most of an hour looking and working

with mall  security before finding out that there

is more than one section 1-A in the parking

garage.  Only in Ecuador!

Once that was confirmed, we went down to

level minus-1 of the gargage and soon tracked

down my car.

The take-away IMO is when you park at a

multi'-level garage in Ecuador, remember

not only the section, but also the floor number.

cccmedia in Quiito