Ever since Mexican Air Quality crisis in the early 1990s, the Mexican government has since seen the air pollution as a very serious problem devoting many resources in order to restore the air quality. The Mexican government has come up with several programs to improve the air quality that are still used today. There are several solutions that the government has come up with some successful with some positive results or some that did not seem to improve air quality as a whole.
The Mexican Government has had to a degree some success, but also in some cases failures in the reduction of air pollution within the city. In our opinion the programs that the Mexican Government proposes must with hold a specific criteria in order to be considered successful. This criteria includes: "The Reduction in Air Pollution," & also"The Cost in proportion to the Efficiency."
Hoy No Circula
In 1989 the Mexican government introduced a program named "Hoy No Circula," (HNC) a program in which vehicle will be prohibited to be driven one day of the week, based on the last digit of the license plate. HNC restrictions occurred on week days between 5:00 am to 10:00 pm but emergency services vehicles, public transport, trucks holding perishable goods (goods that will expire) and taxis are exempt from this restriction. This program applies to approximately 46000 vehicles per day. However any vehicle that breaches this program, the owner will be charged an equivalent of $200 US and have their vehicle impounded for 48 hours. This program was utilised by the Mexican government as a way to reduce traffic emissions while also simultaneously reducing traffic congestion within the city. Throughout the program, the air quality is recorded by the " Automated Environmental Monitoring Network," a government run environmental agency. The agency records hourly measures of carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide, ozone, nitrogen oxides, and sulfur dioxide; the 5 main large pollutants which make up Mexico City's besides PM 10. Unfortunately "Hoy No Circula" was did not see any success in the reduction of air pollution, instead, data shows that there was an increase in emissions outside of the restricted times during early morning and later at night.
In 1989 the Mexican government introduced a program named "Hoy No Circula," (HNC) a program in which vehicle will be prohibited to be driven one day of the week, based on the last digit of the license plate. HNC restrictions occurred on week days between 5:00 am to 10:00 pm but emergency services vehicles, public transport, trucks holding perishable goods (goods that will expire) and taxis are exempt from this restriction. This program applies to approximately 46000 vehicles per day. However any vehicle that breaches this program, the owner will be charged an equivalent of $200 US and have their vehicle impounded for 48 hours. This program was utilised by the Mexican government as a way to reduce traffic emissions while also simultaneously reducing traffic congestion within the city. Throughout the program, the air quality is recorded by the " Automated Environmental Monitoring Network," a government run environmental agency. The agency records hourly measures of carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide, ozone, nitrogen oxides, and sulfur dioxide; the 5 main large pollutants which make up Mexico City's besides PM 10. Unfortunately "Hoy No Circula" was did not see any success in the reduction of air pollution, instead, data shows that there was an increase in emissions outside of the restricted times during early morning and later at night.
Figure 4.1 Here shows a diagram displaying the days in which different license plates are restricted from driving. For example, On the week of the 1st Saturday of the month, license plates with the numbers ending in 5 & 6 are not permitted to drive on that week's Monday. On the week of the 2nd Saturday, number plates ending in 7 & 8 will be restricted from driving on that week's Tuesday.
Source: http://geo-mexico.com/?s=hoy+no+circula&searchsubmit=
Source: http://geo-mexico.com/?s=hoy+no+circula&searchsubmit=
Judgement
This program was unsuccessful in meeting our criteria for success as it did not reduce the amount of air pollution within the city, (the main requirement needed to fix the air pollution problem,) while also costing the Mexican government millions of dollars to implement. This program failed to meet this criteria because even with the Mexican government's attempt to ban 20% of total vehicles per week, many citizens utilised a loop hole to avoid the program by purchasing another vehicle that holds a different license plate. As well as that, because Mexico city is a mega city with an alarming population of 21.6 million people by the end of 2015 and 7.9 million vehicles (growing at 400000 per year,) banning 20% of the vehicles per week results 6.4 million vehicles still on the road producing pollutants into the air.
This program was unsuccessful in meeting our criteria for success as it did not reduce the amount of air pollution within the city, (the main requirement needed to fix the air pollution problem,) while also costing the Mexican government millions of dollars to implement. This program failed to meet this criteria because even with the Mexican government's attempt to ban 20% of total vehicles per week, many citizens utilised a loop hole to avoid the program by purchasing another vehicle that holds a different license plate. As well as that, because Mexico city is a mega city with an alarming population of 21.6 million people by the end of 2015 and 7.9 million vehicles (growing at 400000 per year,) banning 20% of the vehicles per week results 6.4 million vehicles still on the road producing pollutants into the air.
Cleaning the Fuel and Fixing the Vehicles
In 1997 the Mexican government convinced the state oil monopoly "Pemex" to faze out leaded fuel by 1997 in an attempt to provide the Mexican people with cleaner fuel that does not produce as much chemicals from the vehicle's exhaust. This major switch to a cleaner fuel saw immediate results with children seen with far less lead and other harmful chemicals within their system. The government in 1993 also enforced a regulation that all new cars must contain a catalytic converter ( a part of a car that converts toxic chemicals into less dangerous states.) This regulation made sure that newer cars did not fall to the poor emission rates of the older cars that were still around. Eventually the government was able to slowly ensure majority of the cars within Mexico City contained a catalytic converter old or new greatly reducing the release of harmful emissions in the air. As well as that, the government also invested on creating a network of engine maintenance stations that every vehicle must check in at twice a year to ensure that the emissions do not exceed specified standards.
In 1997 the Mexican government convinced the state oil monopoly "Pemex" to faze out leaded fuel by 1997 in an attempt to provide the Mexican people with cleaner fuel that does not produce as much chemicals from the vehicle's exhaust. This major switch to a cleaner fuel saw immediate results with children seen with far less lead and other harmful chemicals within their system. The government in 1993 also enforced a regulation that all new cars must contain a catalytic converter ( a part of a car that converts toxic chemicals into less dangerous states.) This regulation made sure that newer cars did not fall to the poor emission rates of the older cars that were still around. Eventually the government was able to slowly ensure majority of the cars within Mexico City contained a catalytic converter old or new greatly reducing the release of harmful emissions in the air. As well as that, the government also invested on creating a network of engine maintenance stations that every vehicle must check in at twice a year to ensure that the emissions do not exceed specified standards.
Judgement
The Mexican government's solution of cleaning fuel and regulating engine emissions greatly impacting the air pollution crisis. Their solutions though expensive to implement was worth the money spent as it greatly reduced the emission levels of harmful chemicals from vehicle exhaust. This program was able to succeed in meeting our criteria and lower the air pollution, as these programs tackled the source of the pollution (the Fuel and the Engine) improving upon them or fixing them. Through this, the Mexican government were able to see promising results of reduction in air pollution. Since these programs were implemented, Mexico for the first time was free of the blanket of smog that smothered the city in the 1990s.
The Mexican government's solution of cleaning fuel and regulating engine emissions greatly impacting the air pollution crisis. Their solutions though expensive to implement was worth the money spent as it greatly reduced the emission levels of harmful chemicals from vehicle exhaust. This program was able to succeed in meeting our criteria and lower the air pollution, as these programs tackled the source of the pollution (the Fuel and the Engine) improving upon them or fixing them. Through this, the Mexican government were able to see promising results of reduction in air pollution. Since these programs were implemented, Mexico for the first time was free of the blanket of smog that smothered the city in the 1990s.