Parking in Mexico City


Parking in Mexico City is a mix of street parking controlled by franeleros or parking space holders, but in some areas meters have been introduced. According to a survey by IBM, Mexico City had North America's worst parking and tied for 10th worst in the world, to IBM's survey, with 73 per cent of drivers in Mexico City having had to abandon their search for parking at some point during the previous 12 months.

''Franeleros''

Street parking in urban neighborhoods is mostly controlled by the franeleros, a.k.a. "viene vienes", who ask drivers for a fee to park; in the Condesa neighborhood in 2012, 20 to 40 pesos. The requested fee can be as high as 200 to 300 pesos, for example during sports events in the area surrounding the Plaza México bullring and the Estadio Azul soccer stadium.
The fee is in theory a tip to guard the car, but is in fact extortion, since there is the implicit threat that the franelero will damage the car if the fee is not paid. Double parking is common, impeding on the available lanes for traffic to pass.
As of October 2013, there are almost daily reports about franeleros, whether about local authorities trying to expel them, or franeleros refusing to leave such areas, or franeleros breaking parking meters.

Metered parking

In order to mitigate that and other problems and to raise revenue, 721 parking meters, in Spanish parquimetros, have been installed in the west-central neighborhoods Lomas de Chapultepec, Condesa, Roma, Cuauhtémoc, Juárez, Polanco and Anzures, in operation from 8 AM to 8 PM on weekdays and charging a rate of 2 pesos per 15 minutes, with offenders' cars booted, costing about 500 pesos to remove. 30% of the 16 million peso per month parking meter income from the system is earmarked for neighborhood improvements. The granting of the license for all zones exclusively to a new company without experience in operating parking meters, Operadora de Estacionamientos Bicentenario, has generated controversy.

Expansion plans

As of November 2013 there are plans to expand metered parking to Álvaro Obregón borough and Coyoacán borough, as well as colonias Escandón and San Miguel Chapultepec.

Valet parking

As of October 2013, the same west-central neighborhoods are plagued by rogue valet parking services in front of hundreds of restaurants, bars and shops. Laws are being proposed to control valet parking services and require them to belong to a registered entity, present their rates, and the location where the car will be parked. It would require valets to own or rent spaces for the cars off street.