Mexico City traffic: short video highlights on-going improvements

A short Global Post video offers a valuable, up-to-date teaching resource about Mexico City’s latest attempts to tackle air pollution, and lower carbon dioxide emissions:

• The Earth project: Taxi to a Greener Future

The video provides an introduction to Mexico City’s “green transportation revolution”, in which electric vehicles are gradually being phased in to replace conventional taxi fleets, bicycle routes are created, modern, fuel-efficient buses extend their coverage, and biodiesel buses have been introduced along a major arterial route. The initial priority has been on the downtown area of Mexico City, the Historic Center (Centro histórico) . This 3.5-square-kilometer area receives 70,000 vehicles a day, responsible for emitting 10,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide a year. Pollution in this area has been reduced significantly in recent years. City authorities use the Historic Center as a testing ground for pollution-reduction strategies, prior to rolling them out elsewhere across the giant metropolis.

Related posts:

• Traffic congestion still a serious problem for commuters in Mexico City [24 September 2011]
• The on-going transformation of Mexico City [8 May 2011]
• Updates on the geography of Mexico City (26 March 2011)
• Mexico City’s pink taxis: are they a good idea?
• Air quality improving in Mexico City but not in Monterrey