“The deep problem of transport in our metropolis is rooted in the predominance of low-capacity vehicles, both in individual and collective transport. Interestingly, in the latter we find 50,000 utility vehicles, mini-vans and mini-buses that constitute the majority of trips within the metropolitan area; some estimates reach between 55% and 60%. In addition to the 160,000 taxis in the agglomeration – Mexico City is one of the cities with the highest density of taxis per inhabitant – we must also count the close to half a million vehicles used for the transport of goods and messenger services. These units make an intensive use of road space and, given the fragmentary corporate organization of the sector, they are also highly inefficient. Therefore, transport in Mexico City presents low productivity levels for passengers, for service providers and for the city in general. Individual transport enables only 19% of trips within the city while utilising 95% of the slightly over 4 million vehicles currently circulating in the metropolitan area.”
“One of the problems with cars is what happens to people when they are driving. They get cut off from social networks; they feel threatened. Then danger and risk appear in the city. People begin to find excuses to use the car; public transport is too dirty, too risky. These dynamics also change the perceptions of experts and politicians. Diagrams for transport modes in Mexico City rarely show the share of pedestrians as percentage of all trips. Therefore, to solve transport problems they keep building bigger and bigger structures; they destroy the city – turn it into sprawl: motorways, skyscrapers, shopping malls, and gated communities. Transport planning excels at producing projects, I would like to ask: How much investment is dedicated to pedestrianisation? How much investment for cycling? How much to public transport? If we were to invest in terms of the real shares of these modes, we should be dedicating about 75% of the budget to pedestrians and cyclists.”
“My question regarding recent transport projects in Mexico City is: To what extent are these interventions in transport management able to become truly environmental solutions? What is needed for the transport sector to move beyond the discourse on sustainability and become a constitutive element of urban form? Three conditions are needed. Firstly, we need a vision for the future – explicit social, economic and cultural goals. Secondly, transport improvements must be consistent with other urban dynamics and interventions on the city. And thirdly, these improvements need to strengthen urban territories with a potential to become articulation elements. Do we meet these conditions in Mexico City? I believe that there are opportunities. However, we lack a vision for the future and the urban policy framework is limited in its capacity to link public transport to other urban interventions. A case in point is Metrobús, a financially and operatively sustainable project that has also been able to diminish the emission of pollutants. Oddly enough, the Project has not been synergized as an architectural element regenerating the city or as a democratizing element for the city.”
