Embamex India

Agosto 2016

MEXIC AN EFFORTS TO COMB AT POLLUTION

Dear f riends and colleagues,

 Thank you for the invitation to participate in this event. As we all know from living here in
Delhi, pollution is a particularly complex problem for which not one solution exists. Today
I will share some of the policies that Mexico City has implemented in order to curb
pollution.
 Let me begin by saying that Mexico is no stranger to the plight of pollution, particularly
Mexico City, or the Valley of Mexico as it is sometimes called, which is composed by the
City’s 16 boroughs, together with 18 neighbouring municipalities.
 The City is located in a valley 2,300 meters above sea level.
 Surrounded by a mountain range = High altitude, poor ventilation and strong sun
insolation.
 24 million residents (2010), approximately 20% of Mexico’s population, including over
5.3 million households.
 5 – 6 million vehicles, 80,200 million km/year travelled in automobiles, 22 million of daily
motorized trips
 Highly developed industrial area, including over 78 thousand industries and more than
123 thousand commercial and service establishments.
 Daily energy consumption equivalent to 45 million litres of gasoline
 Pollution levels that were cause of approximately 1,000 deaths and 35,000
hospitalizations each year.
 During the 80’s, this situation snowballed until Mexico City was declared the most
polluted city in the world in 1992 by the United Nations.

Measures taken by the Cit y Admini stration

Hoy No Circula
 In 1984 there was a citizen movement called “Un Día Sin Auto”. It was a voluntary
initiative to stop using the car one day a week, promoted by an organization named
“Mejora tu Ciudad”.

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 Eventually, this evolved into the programme Hoy No Circula, a vehicle mobility
restriction programme, which shares some similarities with Delhi’s odd-even policy that
has been tested this year.
 It was established in 1989 as a winter programme. It was a temporary measure that
became permanent.
 Consists of prohibiting the circulation of 20% of vehicles from Monday to Friday,
restricting their use depending on the last digit of their license plates. Vehicles are given
one colour sticker (engomado) that determines which day they cannot be used.

Day Last digit on license plate Color

Monday 5,6 Yellow
Tuesday 7,8 Pink
Wednesday 3,4 Red
Thursday 1,2 Green
Friday 9,0 and special permits Blue

 This applies to all vehicles that want to circulate in Mexico City, whether they are local
or not.
 Along with the Hoy No Circula programme, a Programme of Vehicle Verification was
implemented in 1990, in which eventually all vehicles’ emissions levels had to be veridied
every six months. They are granted a score which determines their restriction to mobility.
 Newer cars (up to 3 years of age) get an automatic score of 00 (which is the optimal),
but they still have to pass the vehicle verification test. Hybrids and electrics are exempt.
 When vehicles are older than 8 years or get a bad score in their verification, they are
restricted to circulate one day a week and two Saturdays per month.
 Switch of car catalytic converters.
 Vehicle verification centres: there was a particular stress on keeping these centres
free of corruption.
 Programme for Environment Atmospheric Contingency: an emergency provision
established in 1991. Mexico City has its index of air pollution (IMECA – Metropolitan
Index of Air Quality), it has several phases and when it reaches a certain level (Phase 1
is 180 points for ozone or 175 points for PM 10), the government declares an emergency
situation in which there are further restrictions to car mobility, as well as suspensions of
outdoors activities in schools and even shutdown of factories for the day.

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 In 2007, Hoy No Circula was extended to restrict vehicle circulation to Saturdays,

depending on the colour of the sticker and the last digit of the license plate.
 It has been emulated in cities like Bogotá, Santiago and Sao Paulo.

 Hoy No Circula encourages use of alternative transportation. Nobel prize winner Mario
Molina carried out a survey on 2013 asking citizens how they tackled the restrictions:
63.8% uses public transportation on restricted days, 14% stays home, 8% uses taxi cabs,
4.5% has bought a new vehicle, and 4% carpools.
 The city recorded a 7.7m tonnes reduction in carbon emissions in just four years (2008
to 2012), beating a 7.0m tonnes target.
 In 2012, Mexico City registered 248 days with an air quality level considered as GOOD.
(FYI: Delhi only registered 16 of these days in 2015)
 In 2013, Mexico won the C40 City Award on Air Quality.

The reduction of pollution in Mexico Cit y w as much more than the vehicl e
mobilit y restriction programme . It was a policy that compromised local,
f ederal and all authorities in the greater me tropolitan area of Mexico Cit y, and
that was accompanied by other policies, such as:

 Metro system expansion

 in the period from 1988 – 1994, service lines of Mexico City metro were extended to
run into the State of Mexico for the first time.
 In those years, the length of the network increased 37.1 kilometres (23.1 mi), adding
two lines and 29 more stations, (total of 154 stations and 10 lines, at that time).
 Approx. 5.4 million users daily.
 BRT System
 Metrobus system launched in 2005 as part of the ProAire III program, and is the
longest such system in Latin America.
 The Institute for Transportation and Development Policy (ITDP) announced Mexico
City as the winner of the 2013 Sustainable Transport Award, recognizing the
city’s achievements in its Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system, parking program, cycling
and walking infrastructure, and improvements to public spaces.

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 900,000 passengers daily and a 105 km network. Since 2005, the BRT system’s
(Metrobus) in the city has taken 1,300 microbuses off the roads and has reduced
the time of the average commute along its routes by 40%. Furthermore, 17% of
users are car owners who make the conscious decision to leave their cars at home
and use Metrobus to get to work. That means 150,000 less car journeys a day. Just
one of its articulated buses carries the passengers that would otherwise take up 126
cars.
 Bike Culture
 The city’s Ecobici bike-sharing programme is also the largest in the region, and
has been replicated in other Latin American cities.
 Ecobici had 84 bike stations and 1200 bikes in 2010. By 2015, it had 444 bike
stations and more than 6,000 bikes.
 Fuel improvement: even before the Hoy No Circula, efforts began to clear gasoline of
lead, aluminium and other pollutants.
 Industry restrictions: factories were mandated to resettle outside of Mexico City, and
to change their air filters.
 Recovery of public spaces: A refinery (Refinería 18 de marzo), operating in Mexico
City, was closed in 1991. The land was donated, and a park (Parque Bicentenario) was
built. (managed by SEMARNAT)

Results

 Here we can see how all these policies, taken together, have affected the levels of ozone,
fine particulate matter (PM2.5) less than 2.5 microns and small particulate matter (PM10)
less than 10 microns. The clearer the colours of the cells the better the air quality.

What lessons can Delhi learn from Mexico Cit y?

 An air improvement initiative has several steps, including emergency provisions.

 Coordination between levels of government is essential.
 Make a commitment to the policies implemented, and maintain them above the political
fray.
 Realise that there is no quick fix. It took Mexico City decades to implement these
policies and just in the past few weeks the Government has had to revise and

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adjust its vehicle mobility restriction programme in order to cope with new
challenges that have recently surfaced. These revisions will probably lead to more
stringent and comprehensive policies. Nevertheless, Mexico City’s decades-long
efforts clearly show that comprehensive approaches, and openness to the best ideas,
can make a huge difference and be an inspiration for other major cities in the world.
 Include long term policies that tend to the infrastructure of the city, as well as to its public
transportation system. Efforts to reduce pollution cannot thrive without them.
 The people of Delhi need to get on board. Much more could be done to inform and
educate the population on the benefits of this type of programmes, through all available
channels, starting with a website, apps or using social media.
 We must understand that pollution does not recognizes social level, education or gender.
Pollution affects the present and the future. In 20 years 80% of the Indian population will
live in cites which will house more prosperous societies. These will require more efficient
means and resources for transportation, A/C units, and so on, and they will inevitably
generate more waste. What we do today will shape the cities of the future and the health
of their inhabitants.
 I want to thank IIT Delhi and the US Embassy once again for this invitation and I look
forward to the results of your discussions. Thank you.