Mexico City Prioritizes Public Transport

During the event Challenges and Opportunities for the Incorporation of Concessions of Collective Public Transport to the Integrated Mobility System of Mexico City, Bernardo Navarro Benítez, General Coordinator of the Observatory of Transport and Urban Mobility, pointed out that for years the country has privileged cars while collective public transportation was left aside.

According to INEGI, Mexico has more than 47.8 million active motor vehicles registered, of which almost 70 percent are cars and only 0.9 per cent are public transport vehicles. The rest are freight trucks. Similarly, it is estimated that only major cities in Mexico, such as Guadalajara, Monterrey and Mexico City, have a strong collective transportation network. According to INEGI, more than 132 million people use the metro in Mexico City every month, while the most used transport in Guadalajara, the Macrobus, transports over 2 million passengers per month. Meanwhile, Metrorey in Monterrey transports 14,535 passengers per month.

Despite the fact that the three cities have an efficient transport network, it is also obvious that there is a gap in the proportion of public transport demand between these cities.

Ready for more? Here’s the Week in Infrastructure!

NATIONAL

• Merida will host the Smart City Expo Latam Congress 2020 next June. Mario Redondo, President of Fira Barcelona Latam Congress 2020 explained the event will seek to support cities and territories to adopt technology, innovation and collaboration solutions to turn them into smart cities.   

• According to the UN Women website, more than 25 cities have joined the global initiative Safe Cities and Public Spaces for Women and Girls, which seeks to eliminate the gender discrimination and sexual abuse that women face in public spaces and that limit their access to the community. Some of the Mexican cities that have joined the program are Guadalajara, Torreon, Mexico City and Monterrey.

• Despite the global crisis of the COVID-19 pandemic, authorities in Laredo, Texas and Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, government officials, senators and members of different states of the American Union ruled out border restrictions of trade between Mexico and the US.   

INTERNATIONAL

• On Thursday, President Trump declared a 30-day ban on flights coming from Europe to slow down the COVID-19 outbreak. Travel restrictions for foreigners would begin Friday at midnight, although the Department of Homeland Security announced that American citizens and permanent legal residents and their families were excluded from restrictions.