In a constantly moving city of 8 million people, it only takes a stubborn old nag to jam-up everything.  So the mayor of Bogotá, Colombia wants to drive his city into the 21st century by helping the remaining horse-cart owners to switch over to cars or trucks.  

The city is offering a deal to horse-cart owners:  Turn in your Caballos for a $12,000 credit on new vehicles or the equivalent in seed money for a new business.  The mayor is setting aside $40 Million for the program.  He’s a former Leftist Fighter who is taking a new, people-based approach to the horse-cart problem.  Previous administrations tried to outright ban them without considering the livelihoods of the owners or the well-being of the animals.

In the age of Android Phones and Hybrid Cars, there are still an estimated 3,000-horse-carts plodding along the streets and highways of Bogotá.  And they’re not traveling along the highest rungs of the local economy.  The drivers do a great public service by collecting refuse and recyclables such as pet bottles, cans, and cardboard.  But the horses and carts themselves are a traffic menace.

For one, drivers can’t deal with them.  The carts aren’t equipped with turn signals or rear-view mirrors, and usually a rider in the cart will improvise hand signals to indicate a turn or lane change.  And there's no standard to the hand signals.  Despite the flailing arms, cars occasionally crash into them.

The manure piles are a headache for pedestrians.  And the city’s asphalt streets are way too hard for horse’s hooves, while Animal Rights Activists say the owners can’t afford the proper diet for the animals, meaning many are in sad shape.