Mexico Slashes Car Use

Witness History

BBC

History, Personal Journals, Society & Culture

4.4 • 1.6K Ratings

🗓️ 8 March 2017

⏱️ 10 minutes

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Summary

In the 1970s and 80s a deadly cocktail of toxic factory fumes and car pollution turned Mexico City into the world’s most polluted city. In response, the authorities came up with an ambitious solution: curb the use of each of the city’s two million cars for one day a week, the first time any country had tried such a bold plan. Ramon Ojeda Mestre is an environmentalist who was behind the initiative, introduced in November 1989. He tells Mike Lanchin about overcoming fierce opposition to the plan, and how some critics even predicted riots from irate motorists.

(Photo credit: Alamy)

Transcript

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1:06.0	Hello and welcome to the Witness Podcast from the BBC World Service.
1:09.9	History is told by the people who were there. I'm Mike Lanchin. Today we're going back to 1989
1:16.4	when the authorities in Mexico City took the unprecedented step of curbing the use of private cars. It was a bold move aimed at reducing the alarmingly high
1:26.5	level of air pollution which had gained the Mexican capital the dubious distinction of
1:31.8	being the most contaminated city in the world.
1:36.0	Another miserable choking day in Mexico City. The smog hangs like a shroud over the city
	...

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