Sunday drivers still OK in Mexico City

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Mexico City’s air quality is so putrid that city officials are proposing banning the capital’s car owners from using their vehicles for one Saturday per month.

The plan would be an extension of the so-called Hoy No Circula (roughly, Don’t Drive Today) program that requires vehicles 10 years of age or older to stay parked for one working day per week.

The latest proposal, which would apply to all but the newest cars, adds Saturday to the list. It is being hailed by environmentalists as a needed weapon in Mexico City’s fight to breathe easier. Cars and trucks are the capital’s single largest source of air pollution.

But some critics are dubious of the benefits of a Saturday ban, which could lead to more cars, rather than fewer. Why? When Hoy No Circula began in 1989, it prompted many capital dwellers to buy second cars to drive while their old heaps sat idle for a day, according to Sergio Sarmiento, a political analyst and columnist with the national daily Reforma.

Saturday is a prime day for Mexico City residents to run errands or to escape the concrete jungle. If the city’s plan becomes law, many might be tempted to buy used junkers so they can keep on trucking on the weekends.

Posted by Marla Dickerson in Mexico City