Electric Tourist Carriages Coming Back to Mérida’s Streets

Electric tourist carriages are having a comeback. This follows a mechanical overhaul of several units that had been out of service due to mechanical failures.

Mayor Cecilia Patrón Laviada reported that two vehicles are undergoing technical testing. The entire fleet is expected to resume its activities within the next few weeks.

The electric carriages were first introduced in 2022, as a compromise of sorts after several animal welfare organizations demanded that the traditional horse-drawn carriages be phased out.

Video: Horseless Carriages: Will Tourists Adapt to Motorized Rides?

The local government’s stated goal is for future purchases of all kinds of tourist carriages be exclusively electric, though the decision is not ultimately entirely up to the city. This is because, although municipal authorities authorize the operation of tourist carriages, it is cooperatives and unions that ultimately pick up the tab.

The drivers of these tourist carriages, known locally as calesas, are caleseros, who also serve as tour guides, pointing out locations of historical and cultural interest along their route.

 

Several of these caleseros have expressed that the city pressured them into adopting electric carriages, under the threat of losing their licences. 

But because these electric carriages require regular maintenance and are generally less favored by tourists, they are, on average, less profitable.

“All of this sounds really good on paper, and it’s not that the electric carriages are bad; it’s simply that they offer a very different experience. Families, especially those with kids, prefer horses; that much is obvious. It would be a mistake to phase them out entirely,” said Eduardo de Jesús Echeverría Ayala, secretary-general of the Union of Carriage Drivers.

A common complaint among caleseros is that the people who demanded the introduction of electric carriages are not using them, making the whole thing look more like moral posturing than a real strategy. 

Regarding the traditional horse-drawn carriages, the mayor noted that collaboration continues with the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Science at the Autonomous University of Yucatán (UADY) to oversee and care for the horses.

In Yucatán, roughly 200 families depend on calezas, with the vast majority concentrated in Mérida, Izamal, and Valladolid; in Quintana Roo, they are also popular in Cozumel. 

Widespread reports of horses collapsing in Izamal and Mérida have drawn significant attention to animal welfare, as have other recent incidents. 

But Mérida’s caleseros insist that the problem has been overblown and that such incidents are rare.

Among the current measures to protect the animals is reducing service hours during periods of high temperature to limit sun exposure.

Once the electric carriages resume their usual routes to iconic points in the historic center and tourist areas, each lasts approximately 40 minutes and costs between 400 and 500 pesos.