Quintana Roo Ends Traffic Officers to Fight Corruption

Riviera Maya, QR — The state of Quintana Roo is undergoing a significant transformation in how it manages public transportation. Quintana Roo is eliminating traffic officers to curb corruption and is temporarily postponing increases in public transport fares.

A fare increase for public transportation across the state will be delayed at least until next year. Authorities say they will consider a price hike once the new Mobi system has been implemented.

The new mobility system (Mobi – Sistema de Movilidad del Bienestar Quintanarroense) for the state will guarantee buses with schedules and will eliminate traffic officers, replacing them with a digital system.

The measure is in response to high levels of corruption reported by both residents and tourists. Locations such as Cancún, Playa del Carmen, and Tulum are frequently cited by drivers for having corrupt traffic officers.

“We cannot continue to bear the stigma of having the most corrupt traffic police in the country, where 81 percent of people feel distrust and are tired of having to negotiate in the streets… tired of extortion and abuses that hurt everyone’s dignity,” said Governor Lezama last month when announcing the new system.

In November, Governor Mara Lezama introduced the state’s new MOBI system to eliminate corruption by traffic officials. “There will be no increase in public transport fares until conditions allow it,” she stated. “No price increases for urban transport services are foreseen until conditions guarantee an improvement in the transport system,” she said, referring to the state’s new Mobi system.

In November, Governor Lezama announced, together with the Quintana Roo Mobility Institute (Imoveqroo), the Quintana Roo Well-being Mobility System or MOBI. The new mobility system will provide residents with access to modern and dignified vehicles, fair fares with digital payment, organized routes, and reliable schedules.

Rafael Hernández Kotasek, director of Imoveqroo, said that in its first stage (2025-2027), Mobi will begin with an integrated bus network in Chetumal, Cancún, Isla Mujeres, and Playa del Carmen, with a direct impact on 1.5 million inhabitants.

The new system will include the elimination of the Traffic Officer position, making Quintana Roo the first state in the country to do so.

A private security camera captured a corrupt traffic stop in Tulum on December 17, 2025.

To ensure security and prevent corruption, Governor María Lezama announced that Quintana Roo will be the first state in the country to eliminate the figure of Traffic Officer to make way for Mobility Agents, professional, trained women and men who operate without direct contact for sanctions and without opportunity for negotiation.

Since then, authorities have sent a series of initiatives to the State Congress to provide legal backing for this new mobility model. Once the new Mobi system is operational, public transport prices could increase.

Taxi fare increases will not be approved until the regulatory framework is updated. Last week, Hernández Kotasek confirmed that this also includes taxi fares. Taxi drivers across the state have been requesting approval for a fare increase for over a year; however, that will not happen until the regulatory framework for public passenger transport is updated in 2026.