In the metropolitan area of Guadalajara, located in Mexico’s State of Jalisco, the region’s newest bus rapid transit (BRT) corridor, Mi Macro Periférico, officially launched in 2022. It has become one of the largest such systems in the country, providing more than 300,000 trips per day across 46 stations. ITDP Latin America Director Bernardo Baranda invited Diego Monraz Villaseñor, the state’s Secretary of Transport, to discuss the decision to invest in BRT and its implications for other cities.

— Could you provide us with a general overview of the public transport situation in the State of Jalisco, specifically regarding urban buses and the number of people who use them?

In Jalisco, approximately 3.1 million trips are made daily on public transport, with nearly 1.8 million of these occurring in urban areas. Jalisco currently has the most modern bus fleet in the country, as just over 2,616 units were renewed at the end of the previous administration. This modernization process is ongoing under the current administration, with the first units delivered in the city of Lagos de Moreno and soon to be available in other locations, including Ocotlán, Puerto Vallarta, and the Guadalajara metropolitan area. Thanks to this renewal, it was possible to reduce regional CO2 emissions by 20%, equivalent to 23,000 tons of CO2 emissions that will no longer be released into the air we breathe each year. Currently, in total, just over 5,000 public bus units are in operation every day throughout the state.

— In Guadalajara, the Mi Macro system has operated for over 15 years and serves as a regional benchmark. Could you tell us more about the decision to expand it with additional lines?

The first corridor, Mi Macro Calzada, started in March 2009 as Jalisco’s first BRT. It runs 16.6 kilometers along the major roads of Calzada Independencia and Gobernador Curiel Avenue, crossing the city from north to south and connecting the municipalities of Guadalajara and Tlaquepaque through 27 stations. It transports more than 150,000 passengers daily. In 2024, as part of a comprehensive renovation, 26 new bus units were added, increasing capacity by up to 18,000 additional users per day.

The renovations also included upgrades to the stations, with new paint, signage, and automatic doors on the Mi Macro Calzada fleet. Building on the success of this system and addressing the need to modernize public transport along the city’s major ring road, the Mi Macro Periférico system was inaugurated in 2022. It is the largest BRT in the country and, in its first three years of service, has provided just over 300 million trips, averaging 325,000 per day over the last year.

It currently spans over 49 kilometers and has 46 stations, connecting the municipalities of Guadalajara, Zapopan, Tlaquepaque, and Tonalá. Both Mi Macro BRT corridors connect with Lines 1, 2, and 3 of the region’s Mi Tren rail system. They will soon be directly linked to Line 4, giving Tlajomulco residents a fast, sustainable, and affordable connection to the rest of the city.

Its complementary and feeder lines, which cover dozens of neighborhoods, also allow residents of virtually the entire Guadalajara metropolitan area to transfer safely, quickly, and economically on public transport. This facilitates easier trips and reduces travel times by up to 20 percent. As an outstanding BRT project that guarantees better and more reliable service, while also generating economic benefits and positive environmental impacts, Mi Macro Periférico received a BRT Silver certification in 2024, awarded by the Technical and Institutional Committees of The BRT Standard.

— What has been the impact of this expansion of Mi Macro in terms of access, equity, and the environment?

The impact is very tangible, as evidenced by the first 16 years of the system’s service. We have facilitated over 507 million trips on Mi Macro Calzada and 300 million trips on Mi Macro Periférico, benefiting hundreds of thousands of people daily. In terms of equity, the Mi Macro systems allow all riders to get around, regardless of their condition or ability, as all stations in both systems have universally accessible designs and tactile guides, among other features. In the case of Mi Macro Periférico, 42 of the 46 stations have elevators and access ramps, while the remaining four also have access ramps at the street level.

Accessibility in the urban environment around Mi Macro Periférico stations has also been considered: bike lanes and side lanes (on the Periférico Ring Road) were built; safe crossings with inclusive bollards were implemented along dedicated sidewalk approaches; and medians and footpaths were relandscaped. In addition, the new bus units circulating in the city comply with the Euro V standard to reduce air pollution, which means reducing CO2 emissions by up to 32% per year and eliminating other harmful pollutants from the air we breathe.

Finally, in both Mi Macro systems, as in the rest of the Guadalajara area’s public transport, it is possible to pay for tickets with the universal Mi Movilidad card that facilitates easy connectivity and transfers between the different systems. This makes Jalisco the only state in the country to have a unified fare payment method.

— Why did you make the decision to invest in BRT over other possibilities? What lessons could you share with other cities whose mobility departments are considering building BRT corridors?

BRT technologies and their derivatives have already proven to offer scalable, sustainable, flexible, fast, and safe mass transport solutions in Mexico and around the world. Additionally, their implementation costs are significantly lower than those of metro or train systems. While BRT systems are not infallible, they are a suitable alternative for large cities where demand supports their viability, minimizing the costs and infrastructure impact that constructing other transport systems would entail.