[4] Besides addressing the bus service problem, the Metrobús project emerged in the context of the city's efforts to reduce air pollution with a program called Proaire 2002–2010.

This will reduce air pollution and enhance climate protection[6] Ticketing is by pre-paid proximity smartcard, which travellers have to pass through turnstiles at the entry to the separated bus platforms.

From there it runs south, through Cuauhtémoc and Benito Juárez, before terminating in the La Joya district of Tlalpan borough, providing a total of 45 stations.

The first line covers a distance of up to 30 kilometres (19 mi), running in a dedicated bus lane built within the central reservation (median) of Avenida de los Insurgentes.

[9] Avenida Insurgentes is one of the city's main north–south arterial routes, constitutes a section of the Pan-American Highway, and is reputed to be the longest urban avenue in the world.

This was quickly followed by a southward expansion from Metro Insurgentes to MB station Doctor Gálvez, bringing the line length up to 20 kilometres (12 mi).

[12] Line 3 runs 20 kilometres (12 mi) from Tenayuca northwest of the city southward to Pueblo Santa Cruz Atoyac, where there is connection to Metro Zapata station.

[13] According to the Mexican newspaper, El Universal, construction of the first 16 km (9.9 mi) of Línea 3 (line 3) began on 5 March 2010 and was scheduled to end in April 2011.

[17] Line 4 included a two-step construction process with the first 28-kilometre (17 mi) operational segment built between Buenavista and Metro San Lázaro.

On 5 November 2013, Line 5 opened, running along Eje 3 Oriente connecting San Lázaro east of downtown with Río de los Remedios avenue to the northeast.

[2] The complete line will run from Indios Verdes to Campo Marte (one station west of Auditorio),[23] using a fleet of 90 Alexander Dennis Enviro500 double-decker buses with a capacity of 130 passengers each.