Mexico City’s new hybrid taxis have a ‘panic’ button

While President Trump continues to claim Mexico will pay for his big, beautiful wall, our neighbors south of the border are busy spending money on making their largest city safer and less polluted. The Mayor of Mexico City, Miguel Ángel Mancera, has revealed new hybrid-electric taxis that feature WiFi and a “panic” button for passengers. When activated, officials will be alerted of your location and help could be sent immediately in case of an emergency. It’s similar to what Uber started offering a couple of years ago in India, with the main difference being that the ridesharing service’s panic button is built into its app.

Although only 100 of these taxis will hit the road today, Mancera claims more are coming soon, adding that the goal is to have the whole fleet equipped with this tech in 12 to 15 years. He also said that each hybrid car is expected to reduce harmful gas emissions by up to 45 percent, a vital element for a place as polluted as Mexico City. What’s more, riders are also getting access to a newly developed app, which they can use to call a taxi and get fixed fares — another idea borrowed from Uber’s playbook.

En la sustitución progresiva de vehículos convencionales, hoy se incorporan a tu servicio 100 unidades nuevas de #TaxisHíbridos #mm pic.twitter.com/zbyA4lNUel

— Miguel Ángel Mancera (@ManceraMiguelMX) January 30, 2017

Via: Informador (Spanish)

Source: Miguel Ángel Mancera (Twitter)