According to the 2020 TomTom Traffic Index, an annual report published by Dutch location technology company TomTom, Jakarta is no longer among the world’s top 10 cities known for their traffic gridlock. Jakarta ranked 37^th in the latest report, a significant improvement from 10^th in 2019.

Reduced traffic congestion means a lot for a metropolitan city like Jakarta. The capital’s population of 10.77 million can finally breathe cleaner air as carbon emissions from motorized vehicles have dropped.

International air quality technology company IQAir found that Jakarta air pollution levels had reached their best score of 25 on Friday, a significant drop from 153 on Nov. 23, 2020, when public activity restrictions were not yet in place.

At the start of the year, the government decided to impose top-down restrictions (PPKM) in the densely populated islands of Java and Bali, including for two weeks in Jakarta starting on Jan. 11. It was recently announced that these curbs have been extended for another two weeks until Feb. 3, as the number of new COVID-19 cases has continued to rise. Jakarta remains the country’s epicenter of the novel coronavirus.

Under the PPKM scheme, people’s mobility is markedly limited, with only 25 percent of a company’s employees allowed to work from the office, while retail stores and restaurants must operate at only 25 percent capacity and close at 7 p.m.

Data shows that every time Jakarta reimposes restrictions, traffic congestion and air pollution declines. But when these measures are eased, traffic and pollution worsen yet again.

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