Mexico: Sustainable and safe mobility is the challenge of cities

Sustainable and safe mobility is the great challenge that cities face. As part of the goals of the second decade of the United Nations Organization towards 2030, which seek to reduce the number of traffic events and the emission of polluting gases by 22 percent by 2030, specialists urged during the Smart Cities digital seminar, organized by the National Road Safety Alliance (ANASEVI) and ALEATICA. It is necessary to promote electro mobility and reduce the use of fossil fuels, one of the themes at Intertraffic Mexico taking place from 9 - 11 November 2021.

Arturo Cervantes Trejo, President of the National Alliance for Road Safety (ANASEVI), assured that it is important to join forces to meet the goals of the second decade of action for sustainable mobility and road safety, since in the first decade (towards the 2020) countries such as Mexico failed. He considered the need for a General Mobility Law and the creation of a National Road Safety Agency to face the 30-year lag that mobility has in Mexico.

Clean and safe mobility

Enrique de la Madrid, Director of the Center for the Future of Cities (ITESM), pointed out that all sectors have the obligation to participate in the new design of cities and face problems with modern technologies. He said that the greatest challenge is clean and safe mobility, since many people occupy a third of their salary and their time in the transfer to their destination, in addition to the fact that land transport is one of the most polluting and climate change forces act urgently.

E-mobility

Carlos Mir Cárdenas, Coordinator of Electric Mobility Projects at the UN Environment Program (UNEP), said that electric mobility is a priority for Latin America, to decarbonize the transportation subsector and dependence on fossil fuels. He highlighted the work of countries such as Colombia, Chile, Brazil, Uruguay, and Ecuador. In the case of Mexico, he highlighted the actions carried out in Mexico City and Guadalajara, as well as the development of pilot plans in Zacatecas and Mérida in terms of sustainable mobility.

Cycle paths

María Fernanda Rivera Flores, General Director of Road Safety and Sustainable Urban Mobility Systems, spoke of the importance of promoting accessible and safe infrastructure for the population. She said that Mexico City currently has 322 kilometers of cycle paths, and the goal is to achieve 600 kilometers; Furthermore, the Ecobici system is the largest in Latin America with 480 stations and 6,000 bicycles.

User first

Bernardo Baranda, Director for Latin America of the Institute for Transportation and Development Policies (ITDP) considered that the participation of civil society is important to join forces and specify goals in terms of road safety and mobility, so that the person and not automobiles are at the center of public policies on mobility.

Giuseppe Mastroviti, Technical and Operations Director of Brebemi Aleatica, a company specialized in highway design with a presence in Mexico, Peru, Colombia, Chile, Spain, and Italy, spoke of the importance of developing sustainable projects for safe mobility, since the pollution problem grows in various regions.

Unequality

Andrés Lajous Loaeza, Secretary of Mobility of Mexico City, highlighted that the greatest challenge for mobility is unequality, since 19 million trips are made daily in the capital of the country (7 out of 10 are by public transport, mainly concessioned). He explained that people who use public transport are those with the lowest income, who live in marginalized areas where transport is not of the best quality, so they are working on the modernization of units, electromobility, new routes, as well as the Cablebus opening and unit replacement programs.

Luis Gilberto Limón Chávez, Secretary of Mobility of the State of Mexico, pointed out that urban mobility is a fundamental part of the economic development of the country and said that the new Felipe Ángeles International Airport will become a trigger for mobility. He announced that the Distributor for access to the new airport, the Siervo de la Nación Urban Highway, the East Connection, and the Macro Mexiquense Naucalpan-Ecatepec bypass will be promoted.

Electric train system

Diego Monraz Villaseñor, Secretary of Transportation of the State of Jalisco, pointed out that a safe city is the one that uses the private car the least, but above all the one that generates a better quality of life. He highlighted the recent entry into operation of the electric train system in Guadalajara, which serves 5,200 daily users and connects the airport with important points in the urban area, as well as the Macro Periférico work. He confirmed that the Government of Jalisco will present its mobility projects at COP 26 to be held in Glasgow, Scotland, in November.

The topic of smart cities will be one of the axes of the work in the fifth edition of Intertraffic that will be held in partnership with the IV Ibero-American Congress of Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS), from November 9 to 11 at the Citibanamex Center of the Mexico City. It is the main event worldwide for the mobility sector and the iconic meeting of the sector. It concentrates its initiatives on business, knowledge, the network, experiences, and innovations in the sector in terms of roads, traffic management, parking, and new technologies.

The event is aimed at professionals in the field of transit technology and smart mobility, with the participation of transport specialists who will analyze the future of urban mobility, smart transport, smart cities, big data, traffic management, as well as the challenges and trends of the sector.

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