Abstract:

On the periphery of Mexico City, specifically in the Cuautepec area, informal transport forms the backbone of daily mobility for thousands of residents. The area's complex topography, combined with insufficient coverage by formal public transport, has led to the existence of a network of vehicles operating outside official regulation. While this service meets a real need of the population, its informal nature generates problems regarding road safety, unregulated fares, a lack of standardized routes, and citizen distrust. Faced with this reality, there is a need to design strategies that, while recognizing the existence and social utility of this service, promote its progressive incorporation into the city's formal mobility network.

The objective of this paper is to design an strategy that facilitates the integration of Cuautepec's informal transport into the Mexico City mobility network. This will be achieved through processes of awareness-raising, technical training, and community participation that dignify the work of the drivers providing the service in the area.

The research was developed in three phases under a qualitative approach with a propositional scope, using the case study as the main method.

The first phase involved a participatory diagnosis that included:
- Semi-structured interviews with informal transport drivers in the area.
- Perception surveys with regular users of the system.

In the second phase, based on the findings, a comprehensive strategy was designed. This includes training workshops for drivers covering: road safety, the pyramid of mobility hierarchy, and customer service, as well as an awareness campaign through social media posts about the importance of informal transport in Cuautepec and its significance for the mobility network, with a focus on the individuals engaged in this activity. In the third phase, a comparison was made between the proposed strategy and the Mobility As A Service (MAAS) model, which seeks to integrate different public and private transport services into digital platforms to offer more efficient alternatives to the private car.

The diagnosis revealed that both drivers and users recognize the need for informal transport, but also identify areas for improvement related to safety and trust. Drivers expressed a willingness to undergo training and regularization if it implies better working conditions and social recognition. Users, for their part, demand more information on routes, schedules, and fares, as well as mechanisms to report incidents.

The designed educational strategy proposes the following:
- An officially recognized skills certification program for drivers.
- A visual identity campaign to make units adhering to the program recognizable.
- The creation of a community directory of routes and schedules developed participatorily.
- A user-driver feedback system based on accessible digital tools.

Keywords:

Informal transport, integration strategy, Mobility as a Service, Cuautepec, Mexico City.