Assessing Urban Accessibility in Monterrey, Mexico: A Transferable Approach to Evaluate Access to Main Destinations at the Metropolitan and Local Levels  
[PERSON]  
1 Tecnologico de Monterrey, School of Engineering and Sciences, Eugenio Garza Sada 2501 Sur, Monterrey 64849, Mexico; [EMAIL_ADDRESS] (A.L.G.-B. ; [EMAIL_ADDRESS] (J.N.-B. ); [EMAIL_ADDRESS] (R.A.R.-M.); [EMAIL_ADDRESS] (J.d.-J.L.-S) 2 Mecio Clean Economy 2505, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA; [EMAIL_ADDRESS] 3 German Aerospace Center, Institute of Transport Research, Radower Chaussee 7, 12489 Berlin, Germany; [EMAIL_ADDRESS] ()Correspondence: [EMAIL_ADDRESS]  
[PERSON]  
1 Tecnologico de Monterrey, School of Engineering and Sciences, Eugenio Garza Sada 2501 Sur, Monterrey 64849, Mexico; [EMAIL_ADDRESS] (A.L.G.-B. ; [EMAIL_ADDRESS] (J.N.-B. ); [EMAIL_ADDRESS] (R.A.R.-M.); [EMAIL_ADDRESS] (J.d.-J.L.-S) 2 Mecio Clean Economy 2505, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA; [EMAIL_ADDRESS] 3 German Aerospace Center, Institute of Transport Research, Radower Chaussee 7, 12489 Berlin, Germany; [EMAIL_ADDRESS] ()Correspondence: [EMAIL_ADDRESS]  
M.A., B., R.  
Mexico, is transforming to become a more accessible environment for its inhabitants by using sustainable modes of transport to provide access to its main destinations. Monterrey is one of the largest cities in Mexico, with an area of 324.8 km\({}^{2}\) and 1,142,994 inhabitants according to the 2020 census of the National Statistics and Geography Institute (INEGI, by its acronym in Spanish). This city shares its urban environment and transportation infrastructure with eighteen municipalities, which comprise the Monterrey Metropolitan Zone (MMZ): Abasolo, Apodaca, Cadereyta Jimenez, El Carmen, Cienega de Flores, Garcia, San Pedro Garza Garcia, General Escobedo, General Zuazua, Guadalupe, Juarez, Monterrey, Pesqueria, Salinas Victoria, San Nicolas de los Garza, Hidalgo, Santa Catarina and Santiago. According to INEGI, the population of the MMZ is 5,341,177 inhabitants within a 7657 km\({}^{2}\) area. Even though Monterrey is one of the wealthiest cities in Mexico, due to its industrial workforce and productivity, it faces several environmental and urban mobility challenges [2]. Monterrey has been previously identified as the second-most-polluted city in Latin America and holds the ninth place amongst most polluted cities in the world [3]. This pollution problem is produced by carbon and co-pollutant emissions from both traffic and industry. The city's urban mobility statistics have shown an increasing trend in the number of vehicles, while the use of public transportation has been decreasing [2]. Public transportation in the MMZ lacks security, is expensive and is often described as timely inefficient, making private vehicles the preferred choice for inhabitants [3]. The weather in Monterrey can also affect the citizens' willingness to use certain modes of transportation, such as walking and bicycles. Temperatures in the MMZ can reach extremely high values surpassing 35 \({}^{\circ}\)C during the summer months [4; 5]. According to the Sustainable Urban Mobility Program for the Monterrey Metropolitan Area 2020 (PIMUS, by its acronym in Spanish), the mode share (the percentage of travellers using a particular type of transportation) is 46% for cars, 20% for public transport, 19% for walking, 6% for transport network companies (TNCs) and taxis, 5% for institutional transportation, 2% for school transport, 0.8% for bicycles and 0.3% others. Furthermore, the travel purposes are 44% work, 18% education, 14% shopping, 12% accompany or picking up someone, 4% recreation, 3% health and 5% other [6]. The elevated number of vehicles in the city, together with an inefficient urban design, results in traffic congestions, which at the same time contribute to an increase in carbon and co-pollutant emissions due to the repetitive motor starts and stops [7]. This worsens Monterrey's pollution.