As one of the measures to reduce pollution, Mexico City’s government will forbid the circulation of new microbuses. The capital’s mayor, Miguel Ángel Mancera, announced that the norm would be published this very week, establishing a restriction that will be permanent.
“For the first time In Mexico City microbuses will be forbidden to circulate, from now on and forever. That is to say there will be no new microbus concessions. If someone wants a concession it will be with an ecologically sustainable vehicle, but not a single more concession will be given to a microbus-type vehicle.”
He explained that owners of microbus units which have exhausted their service life will not be able to renovate concessions if they do not acquire new units.
The mayor stated that soon new measures would eliminate 1,000 microbuses out of the 18,000 still circulating. He added that the Mario Molina Center, dedicated to finding solutions in environmental protection, energy and climate change, has presented a proposal to create a fund for public transport. The fund would obtain its resources from gasoline, without this representing an increase in price.
“Basically what they are suggesting isn’t just about raising prices, what the Mario Molina Center suggests is placing an overprice. What does that mean? It could be 10 cents, 5 cents, 20 cents, to be linked to a fund for public transport.”
Miguel Ángel Mancera said that the new regulations and homologation for vehicular verification in the six states that form the Environmental Commission of the Megalopolis (CAMe) — State of Mexico, Hidalgo, Morelos, Puebla, Tlaxcala and Mexico City — can lead to reducing 40 percent of pollutants, although additional measures are still being worked on. He specified that 168 proposals are currently under consideration.
Finally, the mayor admitted that implementing the Hoy No Circula program cost his party — the Democratic Revolution Party (PRD) — a loss of votes during the June 5 elections.
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