Poor urban planning in the capital and state of Yucatán has generated an excess of vehicles in the city and state, said Dr. Silvana Forti Sosa, director of the Urban Laboratory at Universidad Modelo de Mérida.
This phenomenon is related to a poor urban planning that centers on private car use, leaving behind a planning focused on public transportation, she added.
“A city that bets on urban expansion through multifunctional subdivisions, far away and where public transportation does not reach, forces its inhabitants to solve their displacements with cars,” she pointed out.
In contrast to the significant increase in personal vehicles, the number of buses for passengers in public transportation increased only 0.75% per year, and in 2022 these mass transportation vehicles represented only 0.3% of the fleet in the capital and metropolitan area of Yucatán.
The academic based her analysis on data from the National Institute of Statistics and Geography (INEGI) in 2022, when there were a total of 994,656 motor vehicles registered for circulation in the state of Yucatán. However, the Secretariat of Public Security also issued its opinion on the subject, reporting that the updated vehicle fleet in Yucatán as of June 2024 is 1,102,172.
Dr. Forti informed that of the total number of vehicles registered in 2022, 70% of them belonged to the municipality of Mérida, which means that there are 695,876 vehicles circulating on the city’s streets.
“In the last 10 years, the vehicle fleet of the metropolitan area presented an annual growth rate of 5.39%”, she said. “Only cars increased at a rate of 4.97%. In contrast, the population grew at a rate of 1.17%, so it can be said that the number of vehicles grows four times faster than the population.”
Congestion is increasing
Traffic congestion is related to the intensive use of private cars and is aggravated by problems related to road design, Dr. Forti Sosa pointed out.
It also depends on the driving style that does not respect other users on the road, the city model promoted, and the lack of a policy for land use that organizes its distribution in a more equitable way, she added.
“The traffic congestion in Mérida will increase if adequate measures are not taken,” she warned.
The doctor was asked how to control the growing number of vehicles in the entity, and she replied:
“One of the first objectives of urban planning facing the challenge of climate change should be how to reduce car use in the city. This passes through limiting urban expansion and densifying areas that have potential for it.”
She also emphasized the need to think about multifunctional neighborhoods with access to goods and services at a short distance, expanding pedestrian and cyclist safety, strengthening public transportation systems, and combining policies focused on specific needs.
For example, introducing safe environments for schools so that people can walk or bike to school.
Source: Diario de Yucatan
