Mexico City's smog problem is so bad that government officials are banning most private and government vehicles from the city one day a week and one Saturday a month, the
Wall Street Journal reported.
The restrictions follow recent pollution emergencies. They start next week and run through June 30, Mexico City officials announced on Wednesday.
The vehicle ban is in addition to the city's "one-day-without-a-car" program that placed some driving restrictions on most vehicles during air-quality emergencies, said the Journal.
Mexico City mayor Miguel Angel Mancera told news media that about 1.1 million cars, including nearly 450,000 in the nation's capital, are being ordered off the streets under the new restrictions, said
The Associated Press,
With nine million people, Mexico City has one of the largest populations in the Western Hemisphere, according to the website
World Population Review. About 700,000 of those living in Mexico City are U.S. residents.
Autoblog reported on March 19 that Mexico City officials were starting to put restrictions in place after seeing years of air-quality improvements.
"Thanks to smog checks and policies to decommission older, more polluting vehicles, officials didn't need to issue pollution alerts in Mexico City for 11 years," said Autoblog. "Last year, though, the government relaxed those restrictions. This week, as the surrounding mountains trap dirty air in the valley containing the country's capital, Mexico City banned over a million vehicles from the roads as ozone levels have nearly doubled the acceptable limits."
The Journal said an estimated 20 million people live in Mexico City's metropolitan area, owning roughly 10 million vehicles. Car vehicle ownership has been spiking in the area because of a rising middle class and the availability of credit.
Poor public transportation in Mexico City has also contributed to people driving their vehicles more, said the Journal.
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