After several days of double vehicle restrictions, the Hoy No Circula program in Mexico City and the State of Mexico will operate normally on Thursday, February 19, 2026. Although poor air quality was reported on Wednesday, February 18, due to ozone particles, no double program will be activated for environmental contingency. Vehicles with green stickers and plate endings 1 and 2 will not be allowed to circulate from 5:00 to 22:00 hours.
The Hoy No Circula program, designed to reduce air pollution in the Metropolitan Zone of the Valley of Mexico, returns to its standard operation on Thursday, February 19, 2026, according to reports from the Comisión Ambiental de la Megalópolis (CAMe). This follows the suspension of the environmental contingency on February 17, which had imposed double Hoy No Circula for several previous days. On Wednesday, February 18, at 17:00 hours, authorities reported poor air quality with ozone particles present, but no new contingency was determined for the following day.
The affected vehicles on February 19 are those with green stickers and plate endings 1 and 2, holding verification holograms 1 and 2. This restriction applies from 5:00 to 22:00 hours in the 16 boroughs of CDMX and 18 municipalities in Edomex, including Atizapán de Zaragoza, Coacalco de Berriozábal, Cuautitlán, Cuautitlán Izcalli, Chalco, Chicoloapan, Chimalhuacán, Ecatepec, Huixquilucan, Ixtapaluca, La Paz, Naucalpan de Juárez, Nezahualcóyotl, Nicolás Romero, Tecámac, Tlalnepantla de Baz, Tultitlán, and Valle de Chalco. Foreign vehicles with these characteristics are also prohibited, except those with holograms 00 and 0, which can circulate daily.
The weekly calendar assigns restrictions by sticker color and last plate digit: Tuesday for pink with 7 and 8; Wednesday for red with 3 and 4; Thursday for green with 1 and 2; Friday for blue with 9 and 0; and Monday for yellow with 5 and 6. On Sundays, all vehicles circulate freely unless an extraordinary contingency is declared. The CAMe activates the double program when ozone levels exceed 150 points to protect public health.
In context, on February 18 air quality was very bad at stations like Gustavo A. Madero, Hospital General de México, and Benito Juárez, with recommendations to avoid outdoor activities. The weather that day included winds of 30 to 50 km/h aiding contaminant dispersion, with temperatures from 10 to 12 degrees minimum and 27 to 29 maximum in CDMX.
