This bundle of resources, from the Transport Working Group of LEDS GP, presents the webinar recording, slideshow and related resources from our webinar on how Mexico has diminished air pollution concentration by more than 50%.

During the 1980’s, Mexico was known worldwide for its air quality problems. Mexico City, in that time, was considered the most polluted city in the world. Nowadays, despite having four times more vehicles, authorities have reduced air pollution concentration by more than 50% through a public policy integrated approach,

In this webinar, Jorge Macias, discusses the history, public policies and challenges that Mexico has faced in terms of its private vehicle fleet management and how Mexico’s cultural and socioeconomical proximity makes its experience particularly interesting given the possibility of replicability. Jorge Macias is currently the General Deputy Director for the Environmental Commission for the Central Region of Mexico where he focuses on coordinating, harmonizing and implementing public policies in the six entities that form the commission.

Download the slideshow from the webinar here: Fleet technology management: A case study from Mexico

Watch the webinar here:

Below, we have collected all the resources mentioned in, or related to, the webinar.

• Mexico’s current regulation for fuel standards (Spanish)
• Mexico City drastically reduced air pollutants since 1990s: Article on how Mexico City improved its air pollution concentration since the 1990s.
• Analysis of the transition to ultra-low sulfur fuels in Brazil, China, India and Mexico: Results of a study of refining capability requirements, corresponding capital investment requirements, and per-liter refining costs to transition to ultra-low sulfur fuels.
• Government of Mexico introduces Latin America’s first ever fuel efficiency standard for light duty vehicles: In June 2013, Mexico took a big step toward a low carbon economy and improved public health by implementing a new fuel-efficiency standard for light vehicles – the first fuel efficiency standard in Latin America.
• The Mexican developing automotive fuel economy policy: This case study outlines the options available for Mexico to reduce greenhouse gases and to curb oil imports.
• The effect of driving restrictions on air quality in Mexico City: In 1989, the government of Mexico City introduced a program, Hoy No Circula, that bans most drivers from using their vehicles one weekday per week on the basis of the last digit of the vehicle’s license plate. This article measures the effect of the driving restrictions on air quality using high-frequency measures from monitoring stations.
• The case for Mexico to improve vehicle fuel efficiency: PowerPoint presentation.
• Fuel economy of new passenger cars in Mexico: Trends from 1988 to 2008: This paper analyzes trends in fuel economy (kilometers per liter) of new passenger vehicles in Mexico over a period of 20 years from 1988 to 2008.
• Revising Mexico’s NOM 044 standards: Considerations for decision-making: Results of a cost-benefit analysis of changes proposed for Mexico’s heavy-duty diesel vehicle emissions standard, NOM 044, through to 2037.
• Diesel fuels technical review: This publication was prepared by Chevron Corporation to review diesel fuel – its performance, properties, refining, and testing in the United States.
• Policy handbook for the regulation of imported second-hand vehicles: This report analyzes the impacts of second-hand imported vehicles on health, road safety, energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions.

Multimedia

• Air pollution in Mexico City documentary: The air pollution concentration in Mexico City is a serious problem that is shown in this short video.
• Mexico City’s air pollution: The pollution improved after a switch to unleaded gasoline and a public transportation expansion, but government officials say there is still more to be done.
• Snapshot | Martita: In the suburbs in the outskirts of Mexico City, residents like Martita are under-served by mass transit. It can take anywhere from two and a half, to three hours to commute to and from work. Unreliable service and daily breakdowns are just part of Martita’s daily commute.
• Mexico City’s pollution: Towards a Better Future: Short film about Mexico City’s pollution.
• Mexico moves to fight smog: For over two decades, Mexico City has battled to combat air pollution and smog with a slew of measures. And they’re paying off as old exhaust-belching vehicles are phased out and the megacity becomes greener.
• Harvard experts tackle housing, pollution, and traffic in Mexico: In 1992, the United Nations called Mexico City’s air quality the planet’s worst, so bad that flying birds, overwhelmed, would fall dead from the sky. By 1998, the U.N. called Mexico City the world’s most dangerous city for children’s health.
• Inside the Americas – Mexico City traffic: With five million motor vehicles in the Mexico City metropolitan area, the air pollution concentration is among the worst in the world, to the extent of being considered a public health and environmental threat.

Tools

• Global Fuel Economy Initiative (GEFI) auto fuel efficiency toolkit: This tool is designed to provide policymakers and interested individuals and groups with overviews of policy tools and approaches to improving fleet-wide automobile fuel efficiency and promote lower CO2 and non-CO2 emissions from cars, along with case studies that depict these approaches from developed and developing countries.
• Global Fuel Economy Initiative (GFEI): The Global Fuel Economy Initiative has launched the 50by50 challenge to facilitate large reductions of greenhouse gas emissions and oil use through improvements in automotive fuel economy. The website provides access to working papers, a map showing countries with fuel economy standards, and other related information.
• LEDS GP Transport Toolkit: The Low Emission Transport Toolkit supports development planners, technical experts, and decision makers at national and local levels to plan and implement low emission transportation systems that support economic growth. This toolkit helps users navigate a variety of resources to identify the most effective tools to build and implement low emission development strategies (LEDS) for the transport sector.
• TransportPolicy.net: TransportPolicy.net provides comprehensive information on energy and environmental regulations in the transportation sector worldwide, with a focus on emissions and fuels.
• Partnership for Clean Fuels and Vehicles regulatory toolkit: This toolkit will support developing and transitional countries to introduce requirements for 50 ppm and below sulfur fuels; produce or import lower emitting and more efficient vehicle technologies; establish vehicle emissions control roadmaps; and ultimately improve air quality and human health in these countries.Infographics
• Air pollution in Mexico City: Report with multiple graphics on air quality in Mexico City.
• Sources of air pollution in Mexico City: Sources of volatile organic compounds (VOCs), nitrogen oxides (NO_x) and Sulphur dioxide (SO₂) in Mexico City.

Photo: Curt Carnemark / World Bank. Photo ID: MX062S17 World Bank