Transport Commission Advances Stricter Bus Controls for Minors

Mexico’s Transport Commission advanced a reform to tighten controls in federal passenger transport, requiring stricter identity and authorization checks for minors traveling by bus. The measure seeks to strengthen child protection and improve traceability in passenger services.

Mexico’s Communications and Transport Commission, a parliamentary body within the Chamber of Deputies, is moving to tighten oversight in federal passenger transport after the Communications and Transport Committee approved a ruling on April 14, aimed at strengthening protections for children and adolescents traveling by bus. 

The measure draws on two legislative tracks already on record in the Chamber: a MORENA initiative to add Article 62 Bis to the Law of Roads, Bridges and Federal Motor Transport, and a broader Movimiento Ciudadano proposal linking passenger transport controls to the prevention of disappearances and unlawful transfers of minors.  

The reform effort reflects a stricter view of the role bus companies and terminal operators should play in preventing risk situations involving minors. In the MORENA initiative, Article 62 Bis would require that every child or teenager be identified before boarding federal passenger transport services, even when traveling with a parent or guardian. The proposal also establishes that the Ministry of Infrastructure, Communications, and Transport would issue technical guidelines for implementation, while operators would have to adapt their internal protocols once those rules are published.

However, Movimiento Ciudadano’s initiative goes further by proposing changes not only to the Law of Roads, Bridges, and Federal Motor Transport, but also to the General Mobility and Road Safety Law and the General Law on the Rights of Children and Adolescents. Its core objective is to create traceability and verification mechanisms in passenger transport services, especially where minors are involved. Under the text filed in the Gaceta Parlamentaria, transport providers would have to verify passengers’ identities at ticket sale and boarding, require proof of authorization when a minor travels with an adult other than a parent or legal guardian, restrict unaccompanied travel unless a formal assisted-minor service exists, and notify authorities when documentation is missing or there are signs that the transfer may be illicit or against the child’s will.

That same proposal also incorporates a stronger operational layer for bus companies. It would require passenger records to be integrated into trip manifests, checked again at boarding and connected through real-time information flows to the Territorial and Urban Information System (SITU), while preserving interoperability with other public systems contemplated in mobility law. The initiative also contemplates electronic monitoring of boarding, route control, and descent points, giving authorities and operators a clearer audit trail of who boards, who travels, and where passengers get off.  

Legislative records show both proposals were formally introduced earlier this year and turned over to the Communications and Transport Committee. The MORENA initiative by Deputy Mariana Benítez was presented on Feb. 11, and assigned file Expediente 5419. The Movimiento Ciudadano initiative was published in the Gaceta on Feb. 1. The committee’s April 14 meeting indicates lawmakers are now trying to merge transport regulation with child-protection and anti-disappearance safeguards, shifting part of the preventive burden onto transport operators and terminal infrastructure.

If enacted, carriers would no longer be limited to selling a seat and checking a ticket. They would be expected to verify identity, review travel authorizations involving minors, retain basic case records under regulated conditions, train staff to detect warning signs, and coordinate with competent authorities when a child’s safety may be at risk. The MORENA initiative explicitly states that noncompliance with Article 62 Bis and the technical guidelines derived from it would be subject to sanctions under the current transport law.