CDMX Will Replace Its Microbuses

Mexico City’s government, in alliance with Nacional Financiera (Nafin), will set up a competition to replace the microbus service in the country’s capital. According to Claudia Sheinbaum, Mexico City’s Mayor, all of the antiquated microbus units are expected to be removed by 2025. 

During his participation in the 14th International Transport Congress on April 6, 2023, Andrés Lajous, Mobility Minister for Mexico City, said that the administration will set up a public tender for assembling companies to propose new bus models that would replace 6,000 microbuses in the country’s capital, currently operating under “obsolete and unsafe conditions.” 

Lajous pointed out that the biggest challenge to replacing the circulating microbuses is to ensure the sufficient production of new buses that meet the technical guidelines required by the local government. “To address this issue in the short term, the government and Nafin will make sure that the new bus owners meet the levels of production, technical quality and manufacturing times demanded by Mexico City,” he said.

According to Lajous, after the competition takes place, the selected units will be financed immediately. “This will allow assembling companies to build the vehicles as quickly as possible so that they can meet manufacturing deadlines. This is something that has not been tried before,” he stated.

Lajous detailed that at the end of the administration in 2024, more than MX$76,000 billion (US$4.2 billion) will have been invested in mobility projects. These include the comprehensive renovation of the Subway’s line 1, the extension of three Metrobus lines, the construction of three Cablebus lines, the renovation of the Light Rail and the trolleybus city network, as well as the purchase of the Passenger Transport Network units and the construction and expansion of bike lanes. 

In March 2023, Sheinbaum announced that the microbus would stop circulating by mid-2024. All units are expected to be removed by 2025. “We have everything to replace the microbuses in Mexico City between 2023 and 2024. We are carrying out important work with the transporters so that the transition is done properly and smoothly,” said the mayor. According to information provided by the Ministry of Mobility (SEMOVI), the new buses will have GPS service and security cameras as well as enhanced accessibility.