Quick Answer
Hoy no circula is the driving restriction in Mexico City and the surrounding metropolitan municipalities. The last digit of a license plate assigns each car one weekday it may not be driven between 5:00 and 22:00, and the holograma sticker - earned at the twice-yearly emissions test - decides whether the rule applies at all. Bad air days double it.
- Hoy no circula keeps each car off the road one weekday, between 5:00 and 22:00, assigned by the last digit of the license plate.
- The holograma sticker decides whether it applies: 00 and 0 are exempt on weekdays, 1 and 2 are not. There is no restriction on Sundays.
- Out-of-state and foreign plates are treated more strictly: without a permit they also lose weekday mornings from 5:00 to 11:00 and every Saturday. The free Pase Turístico lifts all of it, except on a contingencia day.
What it means
One day a week, your car stays where it is - between five in the morning and ten at night. Which day depends on the last digit of the plate, and outside those hours you can drive on any day at all.
The system has three moving parts and they are worth keeping separate. The plate digit sets your weekday. The verificación is the emissions test you take twice a year. The holograma is the sticker you get for passing it, and that sticker is what decides whether the weekday rule applies to you at all.
It is not a suggestion. Enforcement is traffic police stopping the car rather than a camera and a letter, and the consequence is a fine of 20, 25 or 30 UMA plus remisión al corralón - the car is impounded, with towing and daily storage charged on top. That is why everybody who drives here knows their day the way they know their own phone number.
Sorting out a day you cannot drive
You¿Me das un raite mañana? Mañana no circulo.
Can you give me a ride tomorrow? My car's off the road.Raite is the word for a lift from somebody you know. Completely normal ask.
Them¿En qué termina tu placa?
What does your plate end in?The first question anybody asks, because the digit is the whole system.
YouEn dos. Me toca jueves.
In a two. So mine is Thursday.ThemVa, yo paso por ti a las ocho.
Sure, I'll pick you up at eight.And if their day is also restricted, the answer is the metro for both of you.
How Mexicans use it
As a plain fact of scheduling. Mañana no circulo is a complete explanation for arriving by metro, and nobody asks a follow-up question.
The digit-to-day mapping is common knowledge and people recite it without thinking: Monday is 5 and 6, Tuesday 7 and 8, Wednesday 3 and 4, Thursday 1 and 2, Friday 9 and 0. Saturdays work on a separate schedule tied to the holograma, and Sundays are free for everybody.
Contingencia is the word that changes a week. When one is declared the restriction widens at short notice, and it reaches the holograma 0 and 00 cars that are exempt on an ordinary day, and people find out from the radio at seven in the morning.
The workarounds are ordinary and openly discussed. A second car with a different digit, a raite from somebody whose day it is not, or simply the metro. Renting for the day is the expensive option and people do it anyway.
If you do not own a car, the day still reaches you. Your holograma is the colored sticker in the corner of the windshield, and it is the first thing to look at in a rental or a car you are borrowing. On a contingencia the metro fills, Uber and Didi surge, and every plan in the city moves half an hour later - which is the version of this rule most people in Roma or Condesa actually experience.
Examples
- Mañana no circulo, me voy en metro.My car's off the road tomorrow, I'm taking the metro.
- ¿Qué día no circulas?Which day is your car off the road?
- Hay contingencia, mañana es doble hoy no circula.There's a pollution alert, tomorrow the restriction doubles.
- Ya me toca verificar, se me pasó el mes.My emissions test is due, I let the month slip.
The facts about hoy no circula
- What it is
- A driving restriction in Mexico City and the 18 conurbated municipalities of the Valle de México. Not the whole State of Mexico - Toluca and most of the state are unaffected.
- The hours
- 5:00 to 22:00. Outside them you can drive on any day, and Sundays are unrestricted for everybody.
- Which day
- By last plate digit - Mon 5, 6 · Tue 7, 8 · Wed 3, 4 · Thu 1, 2 · Fri 9, 0. This mapping has held for decades.
- Whether it applies
- El holograma. 00 and 0 are exempt on weekdays; 1 rests one weekday plus two Saturdays a month - odd last digits on the first and third, even on the second and fourth. 2 rests one weekday and every Saturday.
- If you get caught
- Police stop, not a camera. 20, 25 or 30 UMA plus remisión al corralón - towing and daily storage on top.
- Visiting cars
- Unpermitted foráneas lose their weekday, every Saturday, and Mon-Fri 5:00 to 11:00. A free Pase Turístico - up to 14 days a semester - exempts them from all of it, except on a contingencia day.
- What to verify before relying on it
- What a given contingencia phase covers, and whether one is active at all. The weekday table, the hours and the holograma exemptions are in the published decree.
Mini dialogue
Common mistake
Assuming a foreign or out-of-state plate is exempt. The opposite is true - foráneas are treated more strictly. Without a permit a foránea loses its plate-digit weekday, every Saturday, and Monday to Friday between 5:00 and 11:00 on top. The fix is the Pase Turístico - free, obtained online, up to fourteen days per semester - which exempts the car from all of it. It stops working on a contingencia day.
Trusting the volatile details from a page like this one. The weekday mapping and the hours have been stable for decades and you can plan around them. The Saturday schedule, which hologramas are exempt, and what a given contingencia phase covers have all been revised more than once - check those with the city before you rely on them.
Don't sound gringo
three numbers do most of the work: the last digit of your plate, the hours, and the holograma sticker.
The last digit of the license plate assigns your weekday. The hours are 5:00 to 22:00 - outside those you can drive on any day.
The holograma, earned at the twice-yearly emissions test, decides whether the rule touches you at all: 00 and 0 are exempt on weekdays, 1 and 2 are not.
Rental cars in CDMX are almost always new enough to carry 00 or 0, so a rental usually circulates every day - but ask, because it is the whole question. If you are driving your own out-of-state or foreign car, read the foránea section below; it is stricter than most visitors expect.
Where you'll hear it
- A car left on the street on a Thursday because its plate ends in a two
- A radio bulletin naming digits at seven in the morning and an entire city doing arithmetic
- A grey week, a contingencia announced, and twice as many people on the metro
- A tow truck backing up to a car whose driver has just discovered which day it was
FAQ
What is hoy no circula?
The driving restriction in Mexico City and the surrounding metropolitan municipalities. Each car is off the road one weekday between 5:00 and 22:00, assigned by the last digit of its license plate.
What are the hours?
5:00 to 22:00. Outside those hours you can drive on any day, including your restricted one, and there is no restriction at all on Sundays.
Which day is my car off the road?
By the last plate digit: Monday 5 and 6, Tuesday 7 and 8, Wednesday 3 and 4, Thursday 1 and 2, Friday 9 and 0. Whether it applies to you depends on your holograma.
What is a holograma?
The colored sticker earned at the verificación. 00 is the newest and is exempt on weekdays and Saturdays; 0 is exempt too; 1 rests one weekday plus two Saturdays a month - odd last digits on the first and third, even on the second and fourth. 2 rests one weekday and every Saturday.
What happens if you get caught?
Traffic police stop the car - it is not camera-enforced. The fine is 20, 25 or 30 UMA and the vehicle goes to the corralón, the impound lot, with towing and daily storage charged on top.
Does hoy no circula apply to foreign plates?
Yes, and more strictly. An unpermitted foránea loses its weekday, every Saturday, and weekday mornings from 5:00 to 11:00. A Pase Turístico - free, online, up to fourteen days per semester - exempts it from the whole program, but it stops working during a contingencia ambiental.
Do rental cars circulate every day?
Usually. Rentals in CDMX are almost always new enough to carry holograma 00 or 0, which exempts them on weekdays. Ask before you take the keys, because it is the whole question.
What is doble hoy no circula?
What happens during a contingencia ambiental. The restriction widens, sometimes to normally exempt cars, and it is announced at short notice.
hoy no circula vs verificación and holograma
hoy no circulavsverificación
The twice-yearly emissions test. Passing it earns you the holograma, and the holograma decides how much the rule affects you - so the test sits upstream of everything on this page.Page coming soonhoy no circulavsholograma
The colored sticker on the windshield, and the number on it is what matters. 00 is the newest and is exempt on weekdays and Saturdays. 0 is exempt too. 1 rests one weekday plus two Saturdays a month - odd last digits on the first and third, even on the second and fourth. 2 rests one weekday and every Saturday.Page coming soonhoy no circulavscontingencia ambiental
A bad-air alert, and the reason for doble hoy no circula - the restriction widens, sometimes to cars that are normally exempt. Announced at short notice, which is what catches people.Page coming soonhoy no circulavscorralón
The impound lot, and the part visitors do not expect. Being stopped on your restricted day means a fine and the car going to the corralón, with towing and daily storage on top.Page coming soonhoy no circulavstenencia
A vehicle tax, and nothing to do with circulation. It comes up in the same conversations because both are things a car costs you, but they are separate obligations.Page coming soon
Related words
Test yourself
Tap an answer.
What happens if you're stopped driving on your restricted day?
You're visiting with a foreign-plated car. What applies?
The one thing
hoy no circula keeps each car off cdmx roads one weekday, 5am to 10pm, set by the last plate digit. the holograma decides if it applies. get caught and the car goes to the corralón.
Sources
- InstitutionDecreto por el que se expide el Programa Hoy No CirculaGaceta Oficial del Distrito Federal, SEDEMAThe rule itself - the 05:00 to 22:00 hours, the plate-digit-to-weekday table, holograma 0 and 00 exempt, the Saturday schedule for 1 and 2, the foránea rules, and impound as the penalty.
- InstitutionPrograma Hoy No CirculaSecretaría del Medio Ambiente de la Ciudad de MéxicoThe city department that runs the program, and the page the rule and its exemptions are published from.
- InstitutionPase Turístico de la CDMXGobierno de la Ciudad de MéxicoThe free permit for out-of-state and foreign plates - 14 days per semester, and void on contingencia days.
- InstitutionReglamento de Tránsito de la Ciudad de México, artículo 47Secretaría de Seguridad Ciudadana de la Ciudad de MéxicoThe penalty for driving on a restricted day - 20, 25 or 30 times the UMA - and the vehicles exempted from environmental programs.
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