Pico y Placa Medellín: The Lowdown (2027 update)
Short on time? Pico y placa is Medellín's driving restriction: on your vehicle's banned weekday, you cannot drive in the Aburrá Valley between 5:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m. Private cars are restricted by the last digit of the plate; motorcycles by the first digit. The rotation changes every semester — a schedule from six months ago is worse than useless, because it looks authoritative and is wrong.
The rotation in force now (until January 29, 2027)
Under Decreto 1490 de 2026 (Alcaldía de Medellín), the second-semester 2026 rotation runs from Monday, August 3, 2026 to Friday, January 29, 2027, Monday to Friday, 5:00 a.m. – 8:00 p.m., across the ten municipalities of the Aburrá Valley:
| Day | Restricted digits |
|---|---|
| Monday | 5 and 8 |
| Tuesday | 1 and 4 |
| Wednesday | 0 and 2 |
| Thursday | 3 and 6 |
| Friday | 7 and 9 |
- Cars (particulares): last digit of the plate.
- Motorcycles (2- and 4-stroke): first digit of the plate, same table.
- Weekends and public holidays: the measure does not apply. (Check the 2027 public holidays calendar before planning a driving day trip.)
- Taxis: a separate, biweekly rotation, 6:00 a.m. – 8:00 p.m. — as a passenger, this never affects you; the driver manages it.
What about the 2027 rotation?
As of this update (November 2026), the first-semester 2027 rotation has not been published. The pattern is consistent: the Alcaldía announces the new table by decree in late January, it takes effect in early February, and the first days are usually pedagogical (warnings rather than fines). If you are driving in Medellín after January 29, 2027, check the Secretaría de Movilidad page on medellin.gov.co before you rely on any table — including this one. We update this article each semester when the decree lands.
Why it exists, in one paragraph
The Aburrá Valley is a narrow bowl that traps both traffic and air pollution. Pico y placa takes roughly a fifth of private vehicles off the road each weekday by digit, and during air-quality emergencies the city has historically tightened it further. It is a congestion and air measure, not a revenue scheme — which is why "everyone ignores it" is bad advice: camera enforcement is extensive.
The fine, and how people actually get caught
Driving on your restricted day is Infraction C14 under the National Transit Code (Ley 769 de 2002). In 2026 the fine is roughly COP 630,000–710,000, before any prompt-payment reduction — and if an officer stops you, impound and tow-lot costs can follow. Most foreign drivers are not stopped by an officer at all: photo-detection cameras catch the plate, and the fine lands on the vehicle owner — which, for a rental, means it lands on the rental company and then on your credit card, plus an admin fee.
Renting a car? Read this first
- Ask the rental desk which digit the car carries, and map it against the table above before you sign. A car banned on the day of your Guatapé run is a wasted day. Good desks will swap the car; ask at booking, not at the counter.
- The airport is outside the restricted zone. José María Córdova (MDE) is in Rionegro, east of the valley rim — driving between the airport and Guatapé or the Oriente does not cross pico y placa territory. The restriction bites on the valley floor, i.e. inside Medellín and its nine sister municipalities. See our airport guide.
- Plan day trips on your car's free days, or take the Metro on the banned day. Medellín's Metro, Metrocable and tram cover most visitor itineraries for COP 3,820 a trip with a Cívica card — see Getting Around Medellín.
Exemptions and edge cases
- Electric vehicles are exempt. Hybrids are not automatically exempt in practice — in Medellín the vehicle generally must be registered in advance with the Secretaría de Movilidad for cameras to treat it as exempt. If you rent a hybrid, ask the desk to confirm its registration status.
- Exempt corridors and areas: certain strategic corridors (such as the river-road system) and Medellín's five corregimientos are exempt; the decree's exempt-road list is the authority, not a blog summary — check it if your route depends on it.
- Emergency, disability-transport and official vehicles are exempt under the decree.
- No Bogotá-style paid daily pass assumption: exemption programs and their terms change by decree; verify any "pico y placa solidario" style scheme on the official site before paying anyone for a permit, and never buy one from an unofficial seller.
FAQ
Does pico y placa apply to rental cars and foreign plates? It applies to the vehicle circulating in the valley, regardless of who owns it. Rental cars carry Colombian plates and are fully subject to it.
What hours, exactly? 5:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m., continuous — there is no midday break in Medellín's scheme.
I only need to cross the city once on my banned day — risk it? No. Camera coverage makes "one quick trip" the most common way visitors earn a COP 700,000 fine, and the Metro or a taxi (about the price of a coffee by US standards — see Cost of Living) does the same trip legally.
