Mexico City this week registered its worst levels of air pollution in 14 years.
The capital issued its first air quality emergency alert since 2002, after ozone levels rose to dangerous highs Monday and Tuesday. Residents were advised not to exercise in the open air and to keep children indoors. Traffic police banned more than one million cars from the streets and free subway and bus rides have been offered to convince people not to get behind the wheel.
In the 1990s Mexico City was regarded as one of the world’s most polluted cities. Largely thanks to forward thinking mayors, public transportation improved significantly, and together with measures such as the “Day Without a Car” program (in which drivers must keep their vehicles at home for one day a week), air contamination has been more or less controlled.
Last year, however, the Mexican Supreme Court imposed changes to the program which relaxed restrictions on the use of older, more polluting vehicles. This decision has come under fire in light of the recent spike in pollutants.
According to the federal Environment Agency (Semarnat), proposals are being drawn up to make the “Day Without a Car” program obligatory nationwide, although some critics see this as excessive.
To many observers, it seems an anomaly that cities the size of Guadalajara, which have grown at a tremendous pace and have vast numbers of vehicles, have yet to implement measures to restrict traffic and reduce air pollution, even though the program in Mexico City is widely viewed as a success.