Mexico City Congress Proposes Public Pothole Atlas to Improve Road Safety
Mexico City, September 7, 2026 – In a move to address persistent road safety concerns, Deputy Andrés Sánchez Miranda has introduced a legislative initiative in the local Congress to establish a Public Pothole Atlas for Mexico City. The proposal, presented during the ordinary session on Thursday, September 3, aims to integrate geolocation and tracking tools to monitor the location and repair status of potholes across the city’s primary and secondary roadways.
Potholes remain a significant problem affecting mobility and road safety in Mexico City, particularly during the rainy season. Deputy Sánchez Miranda emphasized that these road defects impact motorists, cyclists, public transport users, and operators daily.
The Impact of Potholes on Urban Life
Speaking from the tribune, the PAN legislator highlighted that potholes can arise from various factors, including the use of inadequate materials during road construction or repaving, wear and tear from vehicle traffic, and adverse weather conditions. “Rainfall increases the humidity of concrete and asphalt, deteriorating the road surface, causing new damage, and exacerbating existing issues that have gone unaddressed for months or even years,” Sánchez Miranda stated.
He further warned that unrepaired potholes can enlarge, potentially transforming into sinkholes, which not only damage vehicles but also pose a serious risk of accidents and injuries to drivers, motorcyclists, cyclists, and pedestrians alike. “Properly maintaining roadways must be a comprehensive strategy, with sufficient resources, appropriate materials, and the operational capacity of expert personnel,” he added, stressing the importance of strengthening the Asphalt Mix Production Plant.
A Digital Solution for a Widespread Problem
The proposed initiative seeks to create a public registry of potholes, consolidating information on their location, report history, repair work undertaken, the number of times they have been repaired, and the resources allocated for their maintenance. Sánchez Miranda acknowledged the existence of current reporting mechanisms such as BACHETEL, LOCATEL, and the Unified Citizen Attention System (SUAC). However, he noted the lack of a public and comprehensive database that allows citizens to easily track the number of reports, their locations, pending repair times, and completed repairs.
The Public Pothole Atlas aims to provide citizens and authorities with real-time access to a registry detailing the history of these road defects, from their initial appearance to the resources and interventions applied for their resolution. This system would also enable individuals who report a pothole to track the progress of their request, thereby preventing duplicate reports and generating verifiable information on actions taken by authorities.
“The goal is not to create a new system isolated from existing mechanisms, but rather to leverage the city’s technological infrastructure to centralize information, facilitate its consultation, and enable both the Mexico City Government and the boroughs to more easily identify points requiring priority attention,” the initiative states.
Next Steps for the Initiative
Following Deputy Sánchez Miranda’s intervention, the Board of Directors announced that the initiative would be referred to the Commission for Urban Development and Infrastructure for analysis and deliberation.
Source: Mexico City Congress
