Mexico City Mayor Orders All Cabs Painted Pink

The Mexican capital has some bizarre rules when it comes to cabs. Under mayor Miguel Angel Mancera, drivers are forced to paint their vehicles a new color every few years. But it's the latest color that's really riling the industry: pink.

Drivers say not only is the demand costly for them, it's also ugly. The city's 140,000 cabs will all be painted "rosa mexicana" by mid-2018, according to the Los Angeles Times. The current taxi hierarchy is complicated, with the safest vehicles currently painted white (and picked up at taxi stands or ordered via a phone call). Street taxis, which are painted gold and red and typically hailed on the street, are known as less reliable and safe. Green cabs are older, dirtier, and have a bad reputation. Under the new rules, all cabs will be painted pink, which could place some travelers in unsafe situations.

Most of the drivers the Times spoke to protested loudly about the latest change. "A white car is seen as more elegant, clean," Jaime Gonzalez told the paper. Meanwhile, the city plans to paint all its city buses purple. 

It won't be long though until Uber, Lyft, and other ridesharing services fully infiltrate the Mexico City market and possibly make the whole uproar moot.