“This city in Bolivia's highlands has hired Aymara women dressed in traditional multilayered Andean skirts and brightly embroidered vests to work as traffic cops and bring order to its road chaos. About 20 of the “traffic cholitas” have been trained to direct cars and buses in El Alto, a teeming, impoverished sister city of La Paz in Bolivia's Andes mountains. The women wear the bright petticoats and shawls of Andean indigenous women, who are called “cholitas” in Bolivian slang. The only difference is that instead of wearing their traditional bowler hats they don khaki green police-style caps. Some also don fluorescent traffic vests.

Amid El Alto's dense traffic and the incessant honking of horns, 24-year-old Sofia Colque blows her police whistle with authority. “Some drivers don't obey us and try to flirt with us, but they are making a mistake. It is not easy but we make them respect us”, Colque said. Poli Condori, the driver of a small bus, said hiring the women seemed to be a good step taken by Mayor Edgar Patana, but he had his doubts about whether the experiment would be successful. “The cholitas make the view happier, but I doubt they will be able to bring order to traffic. The people get on buses wherever they want; vehicles stop wherever they want. We have bad habits. It is chaos”, he said”. – El Alto via Associated Press

In this December 3, 2013 photo, an Aymara woman cops directs traffic on the streets of El Alto, Bolivia. The women wear the bright petticoats and shawls of indigenous women in the Andes, called cholitas in Bolivian slang, the main difference being that instead of bowler hats they wear khaki green police-style caps. Some don fluorescent traffic vests. (Photo by Juan Karita/AP Photo)

In this December 9, 2013 photo, traffic at a standstill as pedestrians cross a street in El Alto, Bolivia. The Bolivian highlands' city has hired Aymara women dressed in traditional multi-layered Andean skirts and brightly embroidered vests to work as traffic cops and bring order to its road chaos. (Photo by Juan Karita/AP Photo)

This November 28, 2013 photo shows a traffic cone adorned with a silhouette of a “cholita”, a child and a crosswalk, at a practice session for Aymara women training to direct traffic in El Alto, Bolivia. (Photo by Juan Karita/AP Photo)

In this November 28, 2013 photo, the image of an Aymara woman adjusting her khaki green police-style cap is reflected in a mirror in El Alto, Bolivia. (Photo by Juan Karita/AP Photo)

In this December 13, 2013 photo, an Aymara woman uses hand-and-arm signals to direct traffic in El Alto, Bolivia. (Photo by Juan Karita/AP Photo)

In this November 28, 2013 photo, so-called “traffic cholitas” run laps during a training session in El Alto, Bolivia. (Photo by Juan Karita/AP Photo)

In this December 13, 2013, so-called “traffic cholitas” stand in formation before heading out to the streets to control and direct traffic in El Alto, Bolivia. (Photo by Juan Karita/AP Photo)

In this November 28, 2013 photo, Aymara women traffic cops speak during a training session before heading out to control the vehicular traffic on the streets of El Alto, Bolivia. (Photo by Juan Karita/AP Photo)

In this December 13, 2013 photo, Aymara traffic policewomen are transported to a checkpoint to help control and direct traffic in El Alto, Bolivia. (Photo by Juan Karita/AP Photo)

In this December 13, 2013 photo, an Aymara traffic policewomen, right, aids a woman in crossing a street in El Alto, Bolivia. (Photo by Juan Karita/AP Photo)

In this December 13, 2013 photo, an Aymara traffic policewomen learns to use a whistle to control and direct traffic during a training session in El Alto, Bolivia. (Photo by Juan Karita/AP Photo)

In this November 28, 2013 photo, an Aymara woman cops practices hand-and-arm signals for directing traffic during a training session in El Alto, Bolivia. (Photo by Juan Karita/AP Photo)

In this December 3, 2013 photo, Aymara women traffic cops, seen through the windshield of a bus, direct traffic on the streets of El Alto, Bolivia. (Photo by Juan Karita/AP Photo)

In this November 28, 2013 photo, so-called “traffic cholitas” perform jumping jacks during a training session in El Alto, Bolivia. (Photo by Juan Karita/AP Photo)