Tuesday, September 9, 2025

More than half of all buses in Mexico are operating illegally

Mexico has a lot of old and illegal buses on the road.

According to federal statistics, 53% of all buses — 56,631 in total — are illegal because they are more than 15 years old, and 748 of those buses are more than 50 years old, the majority of which are used to transport tourists.

Older buses are a major source of air pollution.

Experts say that the Ministry of Communications and Transportation is aware of the violations, but refuses to take action to force bus operators to comply with the law.

“The ministry knows what vehicles it has, what license plates and how old each one is, but it has not had the strength to say ‘we will no longer give this vehicle license plates,’” said Salvador Saavedra, director of the consulting firm Tecnología para el Transporte.

The number of illegal buses operating on the nation’s roads is up from 33.8% in 2016.

Of the legally obsolete buses, 30,000 are used for passenger transportation with fixed schedules and established terminals, and 26,618 are used for tourism.

Mexico City recently took delivery of the first of 10 fully electric buses which it acquired at a cost of about US $750,000 each. The city said the new buses reduce energy use by 80% and in 10 years of operation will prevent the emission of 1,300 tonnes of carbon and 14 tonnes of harmful pollutants.

Source: Reforma (sp)

Have something to say? Paid Subscribers get all access to make & read comments.

Annual inflation rose in August, but remains within central bank’s comfort zone

0
After easing in June and July, the consumer price index accelerated by 0.06% from July to August, a modest rise that leaves the door open to another possible interest rate cut on Sept. 25.
aerial view of blue trash bags in street

Ecatepec, Mexico City’s sprawling neighbor, sets a Guinness World Record for trash collection

1
Residents of the highly populated CDMX suburb demonstrated Sunday what a sense of community and a little bit of hard work can accomplish.
2026 economic package presentation

Finance Ministry unveils 10 trillion-peso budget with 18% increase to welfare spending

5
The 2026 Economic Package, presented by Finance Minister Edgar Amador to the Chamber of Deputies on Monday night, outlines significant spending on welfare programs, Pemex and rail projects.
BETA Version - Powered by Perplexity