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The Context

Home to some 18 million people—and 6 million cars—Mexico City is one of the largest and most congested cities in the world. Even as the city has made huge strides to improve poor traffic conditions and air quality, gridlock and air pollution remain debilitating problems.

With over 600 new cars entering the city’s streets each day, the need for a solution is urgent. For some time now, officials in Mexico City have realized that the key to solving the twin problems of congestion and air pollution is getting people out of their cars and into mass transit. The question is how to promote mass transit that is safe, clean, convenient, and affordable so that more people will choose transit over private cars.

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Mexico City

Mexico City - Diesel Retrofit

In 2004, EMBARQ and CTS-México, working with the United States Environmental Protection Agency and Mexico’s Secretary of the Environment, initiated a diesel retrofit project to show how new particulate filters, catalysts, and clean fuel could be used in Mexico City’s buses to reduce air pollution. The results of the low-cost retrofit were profound: The retrofit pilot project demonstrated that Diesel Particulate Filters, when combined with ultra low sulfur diesel, can reduce over 90 percent of the particulate matter emitted from Mexico City‘s buses. Inspired by the success of the retrofit project, Mexico City shortened the timetable for the introduction of ultra low sulfur diesel in Mexico City from 2012 to 2009.