Behavioral Responses to Environmental Emergency Alerts and Temporary Driving Restrictions: Evidence from Cyclists in Mexico City

We evaluate the impact of environmental emergency alerts and temporary driving restrictions on cycling activity in Mexico City for the period 2019–2023. Although environmental alerts and driving restrictions are closely linked, they do not necessarily occur simultaneously. We are careful to disentangle their differentiated effect using an administrative dataset that allows us to distinguish cyclists’ trip purposes as commuting and leisure. We find that environmental alerts are effective, yet limited, persuading cyclists to reduce their cycling activity by about 6–29% during highly polluted days. Moreover, we confirm that temporary driving restrictions are effective, increasing commuting cycling activity in a range of 4–15%. However, the effectiveness of driving restrictions is achieved at the expense of lower-income commuters. While higher-income commuters continue to drive thanks to their greater availability of cars, lower-income commuters are pushed to opt for cleaner means of transportation—such as bicycles—at a higher cost for their health.