No Circulation on Saturday: which cars can circulate and which ones will be closed on September 7

It’s Saturday again. Once again it’s a reason for joy for most citizens… because it’s very likely that those affected by the Saturday Hoy No Circula are not so happy. Or, at least, they are, but a little less so than those who can move around with complete peace of mind.

And it is that in the Hoy No Circula program, created by the Secretariat of the Environment of CDMX (SEDEMA), has its own rules and restrictions on Saturday. That’s why it is called “sabatino”. One more measure to try to reduce the polluting emissions in our environment.

However, it must be remembered that this is a program that is only active where it is applied, such as the 16 municipalities in Mexico City and in the following metropolitan municipalities of the State of Mexico:

• Atizapan de Zaragoza
• Coacalco de Berriozabal
• Cuautitlan
• Cuautitlan Izcalli
• Chalco
• Chicoloapan
• Chimalhuacan
• Ecatepec de Morelos
• Huixquilucan
• Ixtapaluca
• Peace
• Naucalpan de Juarez
• Nezahualcoyotl
• Nicolas Romero
• Tecámac
• Tlalnepantla de Baz
• Tultitlan
• Chalco Valley

Which cars and license plates are affected by the Saturday Hoy No Circula?

Taking all this into account, what are the restrictions that apply when Hoy No Circula is launched? Do we have to leave the car at home for long periods of time to avoid being fined?

The first thing we need to be clear about in order to understand how it works is that this Hoy No Circula program is something that is activated every day of the week. In the image above you can see which cars have to rest each day and are forced to stop. In that case, the restrictions are activated between 05:00 and 22:00 hours.

But you have to keep in mind that the restrictions are different on Saturdays. On these days, the restrictions change and have their own idiosyncrasies. You have to keep in mind that not always the same cars are resting on this day. On Saturdays, the restrictions divide cars into three categories:

• Those who can circulate every Saturday
• Those who have to rest every Saturday
• Those who rest on Saturdays and not on the next

With all this in mind, the first thing we need to pay attention to is the hologram on our car. If the hologram is 0 or 00, they can drive freely. In this case, they are not obliged to stay at home on any weekend. The opposite happens with those with a hologram of two, who must rest and are prohibited from driving on any Saturday.

On the other hand, vehicles with hologram 1 should pay more attention. In this case, the license plate number is the one that determines. If the number is odd, they will have to rest during the weeks with odd numbers. If the number is even, they will have to rest during the even weeks.

So, if we talk about the September 7thwhich coincides with the first week of September, cars with hologram 1 and license plates ending in an odd number will have to stay at home.

However, it should be noted that there are some exceptions that allow the circulation of certain vehicles as on any other day of the week. In this case, the Hoy No Circula does not apply, and of course, neither does the Hoy No Circula on Saturday:

• Those with hologram 0 and 00
• Those that run on electricity, natural gas or are hybrids
• Those who have a disabled license plate
• All those dedicated to urban transport services (including funeral services)
• Those who offer school or passenger transportation
• Those intended for public safety and/or civil protection

In case of non-compliance with these restrictions, the fine will be 20 to 30 times the Unit of Measurement and Update (UMA), which is equivalent to 1,924.40 pesos and up to 2,886.60 pesos.

Image | Sara Kurfeß

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