After receiving a negative from Luis Videgaray, federal secretary of the treasury, for federal help to improve public transportation in Mexico City, the city’s mayor, Miguel Ángel Mancera, said that he would keep trying to get support from the federation to get access to green funds for Mexico City.
“They told us we can’t do it, but we can do it. We’ll show them,” said Mancera. “We are going to overcome the transportation challenge.”
The mayor said that in a telephone conversation, Videgaray told him that 500 billion pesos of federal funds would not be possible. The two will meet in person next week, when they will discuss other financing options, such as the “green funds” that the federal government can grant.
They told us we can’t do it, but we can do it. We’ll show them. We are going to overcome the transportation challenge.”
-Miguel Ángel Mancera, Mayor of Mexico City
“So they’re not just going to give us the cash, we’ll need to look around for funding, and I am fine with that,” said Mancera. “But what is clear is that we need support, and I’m not going to back down on that point. We are going to keep asking for this support because Mexico City deserves it, we need it. Improving public transportation is clearly the solution to the pollution problem.”
He explained that the city government wants to totally overhaul its public transportation system, switching vehicles from gasoline to natural gas, introducing vehicles with new technology that emit low levels of pollutants and increasing the number of electric taxis.
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