They say that you are not truly a chilango if you have not climbed into a minibus. Those strange vehicles that ride in CDMX –a hybrid between combis and buses– and that have taken us from one place to another with considerable uncertainty.
Sometimes we have approached them from behind and other times we have seen someone scratch their windows with a coin and in some moments we have hated the driver, that if he is in a bad (or good) state he starts to race with other colleagues.
However, as uncomfortable as they can be, minibuses have been part of our chilanga history. And although it is necessary that they be replaced by cleaner and more efficient transport, now that it was announced that the minibuses will stop circulating in 2024 in CDMXit is worth making a brief but significant review of its history.
That’s how the peseros of yesteryear were in the CDMX
The first thing we can say is that they are known by this name because almost sixty years ago it cost a peso to get on. You read well… A WEIGHT!
At first, they were not trucks, rather they were huge cars that could fit up to 10 people and circulated mainly on Avenida Reforma and Tlalpan. These collective cars alleviated the great demand that was in the city to move.
This happened due to the disproportionate increase in the number of inhabitants arriving in CDMXdue to the expansion of the town halls, and due to the great demand to buy private cars that existed.
It was like that without any order, the alderman of the moment gave these vehicles a kind of license that allowed the drivers put a cardboard on the windshield to announce where he was going from where he was going.
At this time, some contemporary practices began to be adopted, such as put in a lot more people than was possible and find a way to organize so that everyone could get off at their stops in an “orderly” way. Does it remind you of something?
However, history moved on without limits and soon these cars, mostly from Ford, they became obsolete.
So the government decided to make a “mobility master plan” in the city. One that would cover the recently built road axes, and that would serve to connect the people of the mayoralties with the center.
From boats to combis and then to the peseros
In 1981, the then Government of the Federal District took away the concession from these collective vehicles and from the groups mobsters who operated the buses without any kind of control. To achieve this, more than 7 thousand trucks were purchased.
It was thus that the inhabitants of the capital discovered the infamous Route 100the place name was literally taken from the destinations that these vehicles covered, more than 104 different destinations.
It should be noted that At first Route 100 was fantastic, since it returned a bit of dignity to the buses. The drivers formed a union and focused on helping the passengers get home.
They were so efficient after the 1985 earthquake they conditioned their ships to turn them into temporary shelters and in schools. They also offered free service for months to everyone who needed it.
The peseros were not for passengers
However, the resounding arrival of neoliberalism, led by Carlos Salinas de Gortari, route 100 disappeared.
One more time the government gave the concession to private companies to circulate in the city. It was thus that the square peseros arrived in our streets. Thousands of vehicles that had been made for cargo, not for transporting people and that had to be conditioned.
The big problem for this type of units was that they could not copethey got on more people than they could contain and disorder began…
The drivers had no supervision of any kind, which meant, for example, that breaking speed limits, smoking while driving, listening to loud music and pimp your ship according to your tastes. Does this practice sound familiar to you? And yes, who has not had the driver start playing races to beat the other and thus get more passage exposing the safety of passengers and population?
Besides bustling bus stops were made throughout the city in which people had (have) to queue for hours to reach their destination. Subway exits became the very definition of chaos, to the point that a group of people were “paid” for ordering lines and shouting to the four winds: “Together, together”.
Over time, they became insecure. It was easy to assault them and extremely dangerous for women, particularly for those who worked in the city, but lived in the Metropolitan Area. Just look at the insecurity index of the State of Mexico. Well yes, public transport is still unsafe.
This is the end of the minibuses in CDMX
Recently, The head of government of the CDMX, Claudia Sheinbaum, announced the end of the minibuses in mid-2024. The idea is that from 2025 these vehicles are no longer part of any road.
You want to replace all these units with newer ones. Cleaner, more environmentally friendly and more efficient. The idea is that they offer a regulated service, in which passengers can trust and establish their transport times in an orderly manner.
According to the governor’s words, To achieve this, 1,800 million pesos have been investedand multiple drivers have been offered to be part of a renewal program.
Up to now, more than 5,000 city minibuses have been purchased.which represents, for the more than 11 million people who use public transport, excellent news, since good transport is synonymous with a better quality of life.
