La Paz traffic zebras
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The La Paz traffic zebras, locally known as ("Zebra Urban Educators"), are a group of "urban educators" dressed in one-piece zebra costumes. The "zebras", at-risk youth employed by the city government, work to calm traffic and educate citizens in road safety. Founded in
La Paz La Paz (), officially known as Nuestra Señora de La Paz (Spanish pronunciation: ), is the seat of government of the Bolivia, Plurinational State of Bolivia. With an estimated 816,044 residents as of 2020, La Paz is the List of Bolivian cities ...
, Bolivia, the program has since expanded in scope and been implemented in several other Bolivian cities.


Background

The La Paz traffic zebra program was founded in 2001, in response to growing traffic concerns caused by
rural flight Rural flight (or rural exodus) is the migratory pattern of peoples from rural areas into urban areas. It is urbanization seen from the rural perspective. In industrializing economies like Britain in the eighteenth century or East Asia in the ...
in Bolivia and the resulting increase in commuter traffic.
Antanas Mockus Aurelijus Rūtenis Antanas Mockus Šivickas (; born 25 March 1952) is a Colombian mathematician, philosopher, and politician. He has a master's degree in philosophy from the National University of Colombia, and a Honoris Causa PhD from the U ...
, who founded a similar mime-based program in the 1990s as mayor of
Bogotá Bogotá (, also , , ), officially Bogotá, Distrito Capital, abbreviated Bogotá, D.C., and formerly known as Santa Fe de Bogotá (; ) during the Spanish period and between 1991 and 2000, is the capital city of Colombia, and one of the larges ...
, consulted with
Pablo Groux Pablo César Groux Canedo (born 29 June 1969) is the former Minister of Cultures and Tourism in Bolivia. He previously worked as a reporter for the newspaper ''Presencia'' in 1994–1995, an investigator for Fundación Tierra from 1995 to 2000 ...
on designing the traffic zebras. The zebras, or (a choice inspired by " zebra crossings", or ), were conceived of as a humorous way to educate citizens about road safety, on the theory that drivers might respond better to their mockery than to normal law enforcement. The program initially employed just 24 "zebras", with two people in each zebra suit. These early zebras policed the streets, directing traffic with whistles and flags. As the program developed and grew, the suits were redesigned to single-person outfits which could navigate traffic more easily, and the zebras' techniques shifted more towards humor and encouragement.


Program

The traffic zebra program works with local youth organizations to employ at-risk teens and young adults. The young people, who are employed part-time by the La Paz city government, are given two months of training, paid the local minimum wage, and provided with health insurance. In addition, the program offers them access to classes, mentorship, and training in job skills for future employment. A "Zebra for a Day" () program also allows locals and tourists to try working as a traffic zebra. Zebras encourage safe driving behavior at pedestrian crossings and traffic lights, often through antics like lying across the hood of a car stopped in a crosswalk, in addition to more standard methods like distributing leaflets and directing traffic. Their mission has expanded to include citizen education on topics besides road safety, such as recycling, water conservation, noise pollution, and bullying. Zebras make appearances at schools, hospitals, nursing homes, homeless shelters, television shows, and street festivals. In 2006, the program added "donkeys" as a negative counterpart to the friendly zebras; the donkeys were later discontinued. As of 2017, the program had employed over 3000 local youth, at a rate of more than 250 each year. Sister programs in Tarija,
Sucre Sucre () is the Capital city, capital of Bolivia, the capital of the Chuquisaca Department and the List of cities in Bolivia, 6th most populated city in Bolivia. Located in the south-central part of the country, Sucre lies at an elevation of . T ...
, and El Alto bring the total number of zebras working at any given time to more than 400.


Impact

The traffic zebras were declared a cultural asset by the city of La Paz in 2014, and by UNESCO in 2015. In 2016, they received the Guangzhou International Award for Urban Innovation in the "safe and accessible cities" category. A children's book based on the La Paz traffic zebras, ("Mateo and the Zebra who was Looking for a Crosswalk"), was published in 2018. The zebras themselves have performed a similar play, "" ("Mateo and his Zebra"), at local events. A national television show, "The Z", depicts the life of a young man who works as a traffic zebra. In 2017,
John Oliver John William Oliver (born 23 April 1977) is a British-American comedian, writer, producer, political commentator, actor, and television host. Oliver started his career as a stand-up comedian in the United Kingdom. He came to wider attention ...
featured the traffic zebras on his show
Last Week Tonight A last is a mechanical form shaped like a human foot. It is used by Shoemaking, shoemakers and cordwainers in the manufacture and repair of shoes. Lasts typically come in pairs and have been made from various materials, including hardwoods, cas ...
, discussing their impact on the traffic in La Paz and inviting viewers to add videos of dancing zebras to unpleasant news stories. La Paz mayor
Luis Revilla Luis "Lucho" Revilla (born 1972 in La Paz, Bolivia) is a Bolivian politician who has been the mayor of La Paz since 31 May 2010, succeeding Juan del Granado. Before becoming mayor, he worked over ten years for the city. He is married to Mari ...
invited Oliver to visit the city and participate in the "Zebra for a Day" program, an invitation Oliver declined on-air in favor of dancing with a costumed zebra. In 2020, in collaboration with the United States Postal Service, Oliver released a sheet of stamps which included the zebras among other popular characters presented in the show.Archived a
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See also

* Crossing guard * Zebra crossing


References

{{Traffic law La Paz Road safety organizations