Study of the Comprehensive System of Sustainable Mobility for the

Study of the Comprehensive System of Sustainable Mobility
for the Toluca Valley
Mario Molina Center
2014
Abstract
In Toluca’s Metropolitan Area (ZMT), the current transportation system’s weakness and shortcomings in
urban planning have detonated cross affectations on sustainability in its environmental, social and economic
spheres. Reversing this situation requires a paradigm shift in urban planning and mobility in the ZMT.
To achieve this, the Mario Molina Center (MMC) developed a portfolio of recommendations on policy,
institutional, operational and mobility planning, which integrate urban aspects and influence on all means
of transportation.
service, in part due to the poor condition of the
Constant population and industrial growth in the units, 43% of which are over 10 years old. The newest
ZMT has brought expansion in its urban surface at result of these inefficiencies in public transportation
a rate eight times higher than that of its inhabitants is the growing shared taxi service, which is the main
in the past three decades [1], resulting in increased mode of transportation for 11% of the population [3].
demand for housing and public services, pressure
In this context, the proposals from the MMC articto ecosystems, damages to the environment and, in
ulate
public transportation routes with desirable urgeneral, to the region’s sustainability. Largely, this is
ban
planning,
considering the collateral effects that
due to a missing element in urban planning: mobility
in
terms
of
urban
mobility will be generated with the
with a focus on sustainability.
construction of the Toluca-Mexico City railway.
1 Introduction
A dense, compact and articulated urban growth
with efficient public transportation has the potential
to detonate in a well-planned manner the economic
activity of a city, reduce the need for long journeys
and promote the use of non-motorized transportation, whose positive impacts on air quality are
relevant in a city where air quality standards for
particulate matter and ozone1 [2] are exceeded.
2 Methodology
The process of co-designing a Sustainable Mobility
Strategy for the ZMT, integrated recommendations
and concerns of organized civil society, academia, citizens and decision makers, in four phases:
1. Exploration and enquiry through forums, workshops, interviews with representatives of the
three levels of government, NGO consultations,
specialists in mobility and urban development.
However, in the ZMT about 90% of the urban
surface has density levels lower than 25 houses/ha, a
situation that doesn’t favor a structured system of
public transportation; on the contrary, it encourages
individual and motorized transportation means.
2. Generation of field-gathered information through
a mobility survey of over two thousand people,
vehicular traffic density, occupancy study of public transportation and on-site analysis.
While 76% of people travel using public transportation; 65% of users are dissatisfied with the
3. An assessment of mobility in the ZMT was elaborated which includes a description of the available infrastructure, public transportation corridors, the degree of public satisfaction with the
1 Since
2003, a significant increase in PM10 concentration
levels began to be detected. In 2011 the indicator of acute
exposure of 8 hours for ozone was exceeded in three of the
seven monitoring stations.
1
Table 1: Current modal split and goals for 2025
service and problems identified by the authorities on mobility matter.
4. Generating a proposal portfolio under a structure
of objective mobility for 2025, through a workshop with key players.
3 Results
In the ZMT, we identified a trend towards expansive
urban structure, increase in time and number of
commutes, use of deficient modes of transportation,
dispersion in public management of mobility and
intensive use of private vehicles over other more
sustainable transportation means. The motorization
rate increases at a faster rate than its population and
low capacity means of transportation are preferred.
by 94% the units in circulation. As a result of
the substantial decline in mileage, it’s possible to
mitigate by more than 92% VOC, SO2 , NH3 , N2 O,
CH4 and CO2 emissions and more than 90% CO,
NOx, PM10 and PM2.5 emissions on structured
corridors.
Figure 2 shows the most important measures that
overall drive inter-modality and sustainable mobility
in the ZMT. In urban matter, what stands out is
the strengthening of four alternative sub centers,
containment of urban sprawl and identifying areas
that need to elevate density parallel to the development of a structured public transportation system.
In terms of mobility, the highlighted actions should
be the reorganization of 162 transportation routes in
four corridors that reduce circulation of 1332 existing
units to 86 bi-articulated buses; the need to build
four CETRAMs, a terminal and five bus stations;
pedestrian walkways in the historic centers of five
On the other hand, the public transportation
municipalities and 116 km of a cycle path network.
network is made up of 22 companies that provide
Among policy and institutional proposals that stand
public transportation services through 222 routes.
out: the Law of Mobility (under development), the
Paradoxically, more than half of the ZMT’s blocks
Comprehensive Mobility Program and the creation
have no public transportation in any of its roads.
of a specialized Council in this matter (Figure 1),
Although there is an oversupply of units and routes
an Operating Agency for structured public transport
throughout the city, these are mostly radial and
and a Fund to supply continuously required investdiametrical to the city’s downtown [4]. This triggers
ments.
heavy congestion with an average speed of 38 km/hr
during peak hours [5], thus increasing emissions.
Finally, policy recommendations are made to discourage
the use of private vehicles, such as the imThe most significant result from the discussions, diplementation
of Low Emission Zones in downtown
alogues and surveys around the ZTM’s mobility, was
Toluca
and
Metepec,
in order to restrict circulation of
a consensual view of a modal split by 2025. which
the
most
polluting
vehicles
according to the Required
stabilizes the use of public transportation, drives nonVehicle
Verification
Program.
motorized modes and reduces private car use (Table
The dynamic of mobility is centralized around the
center of Toluca’s municipality, which attracts more
than 650,000 trips per day, representing two-thirds
of metropolitan travel focusing on the municipalities
of Toluca and Metepec [4].
On the one hand, the ZMT lacks Modal Transfer
Centers (CETRAM, acronym in Spanish) to facilitate
efficient management and the orderly and hierarchical
confluence of two or more modes of transportation;
there are only two central bus stations which merge
urban, suburban and foreign transportation.
1).
In order to make this vision of urban mobility a
reality, the study raises proposals at working, regula- 4 Discussion
Transforming the way people carry out their daily
tory and institutional levels.
For example, reordering routes on the four struc- travels in the ZMT requires root changes in a technituring corridors of the city would allow reducing cal, institutional, budgetary and political manner.
2
However, these changes are neither simple nor immediate. They take time, large public and private investment, determination and political leadership, institutional maturity and a great deal of debate.
For this reason, and being aware of the changes required to achieve this transformation, the planning
framework is 10 years, 2015 to 2025. A decade is reasonable time to achieve the proposed changes. It’s a
term which allows citizens of the ZMT’s to first imagine the change and then see the progressive transformation so they join it.
[5] Ayuntamiento de Toluca de Lerdo (2013). ”Estudio de Movilidad de Transporte Privado en la
Zona Metropolitana de la Ciudad de Toluca.”
5 Conclusions and recommendations
Briefly, the actions proposed by the MMC to reverse
the vicious cycle of urban planning lacking a vision of
sustainable mobility are:
1. Creating a polycentric urban structure through
consolidating alternative sub-centers.
2. Ensuring availability, coverage, quality of service
and financial balance of the transportation system.
3. Adapting and providing quality road infrastructure which prioritize communal transportation
methods with low environmental impact.
4. Creating regulatory and institutional frameworks
that transform and order mobility towards sustainability, supported by citizen participation.
5. Discouraging the use of private motorized meathods as the main form of transportation.
References
[1] SEDESOL (2012). La Expansión de las ciudades
1980-2010, Mexico. Resultados definitivos.
[2] SMAGEM (2012). PROAIRE de la Zona
Metropolitana del Valle de Toluca 2012-2017.
[3] Based on the ZMT’s Survey of mobility: day
to day and activities, conducted in Toluca’s
Metropolitan Area during September 2014, with
2108 people surveyed.
[4] ST-SIPATP (2007). Sistema Integral de
Planeación Administrativa del Transporte
Público, Secretarı́a de Transporte del Gobierno
del Estado de México.
3
4
Planning
Municipal
Departments of
Transportation
Code for Biodiversity of
the State of Mexico
Metropolitan
Coordination
Agency(Art.
5.17)
Councils
Administrative Code
(Books 5, 6, 7, 8, 10 y
11) of the State of
Mexico
Expenditure Law of the
State of Mexico
Ministry of Urban
Development
Ministry of Economic
Development
Civil society
Private initiative
Academia
Metropolitan
Convention
Coordination
(Art. 5.16)
Municipal
Planning Institutes
Ministry of
Communications
Ministry of
Environment
Ministry of Labor
Ministry of Finance
Ministry of Health
Ministry of
Metropolitan
Development
Ministry of Mobility
(prior Transportation)
Ministry of Public
Security
Ministry of the
Secretary-General
Ministry of Education
State Congress
Governance
Ministry of Finance
Ministry of Agriculture, Land
& Urban development
Ministry of Comm &
Transportation
Housing Law
Planning Law of the
State of Mexico and its
Municipalities
Public Transportation
and Related Services
Regulation of the State
of Mexico
Mobility Law of the
State of Mexico
Legal
Framework
Source: Elaborated by the MMC
Mobility and Urban
Development Council
Urban and
Mobility
Observatory
Metropolitan Mobility
Operator Agency
Operation
Sustainable
Metropolitan
Mobility Fund
Metropolitan Fund
FONADIN
Financing
Federal entities
State entities
Municipal entities
Proposed entities
Regulations and planning instruments
Regulations and proposed planning instruments
Municipal Urban
Development Plans
Partial plans for sub
center's consolidation
Regional Urban
Development Plan
Comprehensive
Metropolitan Mobility
Plan
State Urban Development
Plan
Expenditure Budget
2014-2018 National
Infrastructure Program
2013-2018 National Urban
Development Program
Instruments
Figure 1: Policy and Institutional Proposals for the Sustainable Mobility Strategy for the Valley of Toluca
5
Source: Elaborated by the MMC
Figure 2: Working proposals for a Sustainable Mobility Strategy for the Valley of Toluca