Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco, August 13, 2026 – Puerto Vallarta’s new electric bus system began service August 1 with 19 SITEUR units, exactly half the 38-bus fleet Jalisco presented in January 2025. The launch delivered an operating corridor and new charging infrastructure, but with fewer buses, routes, and projected daily passengers than the original plan.
The official SITEUR launch notice lists seven articulated electric buses with capacity reaching 120 passengers and 12 standard units carrying up to 85. Ten additional buses operated by concessionaires support the corridor.
Two trunk routes now connect Ixtapa with Centro and Las Juntas with Galerías Vallarta. A smaller feeder circuit links the main service with the Centro Universitario de la Costa. The buses operate between 5 a.m. and 11.30 p.m., and the 11-peso fare began August 3 after a free launch weekend.
The scope is substantially smaller than the electric system presented by Jalisco in January 2025. That plan called for 38 electric buses, including 18 articulated units and 20 standard buses. Officials described four trunk routes, one complementary route, service reaching 20,000 passengers daily and intervals as short as five minutes.
The operating system launched this month has two trunk routes, one feeder circuit and projected ridership exceeding 9,000 passengers daily. SITEUR lists average intervals of 13 minutes between Ixtapa and Centro and 14 minutes between Las Juntas and Galerías.
The reduction did not occur without notice. By October 2025, an updated state transportation plan allocated 19 electric buses to Puerto Vallarta. The August launch fulfilled that later allocation, while the original 38-bus proposal was never restored.
The 19 SITEUR buses should not be treated as Puerto Vallarta’s entire fleet renewal. Another 31 buses entered service in December 2025 following an extended financing delay. That separate delivery included 10 Sunwin electric buses, 15 Geely natural-gas buses and six Mercedes-Benz diesel units operated within the concession-based system.
Statements about more than 60 additional buses also referred largely to that broader fleet-renewal program rather than the SITEUR corridor. During the December delivery, state officials said another 65 natural-gas buses and 19 electric units were expected in March. After 23 public buses were burned during the February 22 violence, Transportation Secretary Diego Monraz described an order of 60 buses expected in late April, alongside the separate electromobility project.
Those overlapping announcements cannot be combined into a single promised total. The documented record covers separate public and concession-operated programs announced on changing schedules. The clearest comparison is within the SITEUR project itself. It opened with 19 electric buses after beginning as a 38-bus proposal.
A Vallarta Independiente report also cited rider complaints involving air conditioning and mechanical problems on some newer buses. SITEUR describes all 19 units in its electric fleet as equipped with air conditioning, videovigilance, low-floor access and spaces accommodating wheelchairs.
The system’s daily operation will now determine how much the smaller fleet improves travel along Medina Ascencio. SITEUR’s published service targets call for average waits of 13 to 14 minutes on the two trunk routes, with the CUCosta feeder running approximately every five minutes.
