Ecobreves – MEXICO: Resistance to Obligatory School Transport

By IPS Correspondents and - - Reprint | | Print |

MEXICO CITY, Apr 21 2008 (IPS) - The decision by the Mexico City government to make school mass transportation obligatory beginning in September, to cut down on pollution and traffic jams, has met with opposition from parents and experts. Although the intention is to improve air quality, the decision did not arise from citizen consultation and does not include measures for improving and expanding the school transportation system, Arnulfo Arteaga, of the Autonomous Metropolitan University, told Tierramérica. Arteaga, former member of the Mexico City mass transit administrative council, warned that if the government does not involve citizen input in the process, it could fail. He is backed by parents groups who say they do not have the money to pay for bussing their children and will not heed the measure. According to municipal authorities, in the capital 4.4 million trips are made in individual cars to get children to and from school. Just 8.2 percent of the city's schools have their own transportation.