Jakarta Is the World's Seventh Most Congested City, Worse Than LA

KatadataOTO – Jakarta is the seventh most congested city in the world in 2024. This was noted in the Global Traffic Scoreboard 2024 released by Inrix, a transportation data and analysis company in the United States.

This result is certainly noteworthy because in 2023, Inrix ranked Jakarta 10th.

The study was conducted in nearly 1,000 cities across 37 countries. The results showed that Jakarta is more congested than several cities in developed countries, such as Los Angeles in the United States.

The report stated that Jakarta residents have to spend about 89 hours per year on the road. This is more than the previous year, which was only 69 hours.

Photo : KatadataOTO

Vehicle speed is only 20.9 km per hour, showing how dense the traffic is in the Capital City.
Meanwhile, the most congested city in the world is Istanbul, Turkey, where people spend 105 hours driving.

The second rank is occupied by New York City, United States. Drivers spend about 102 hours per year on the road.

Then Chicago closes out the top three with a record of 102 hours per year spent on the road. 

"Every year since 2020 we have seen traffic gradually increase to near pre-pandemic conditions," said Bob Pishue, a transportation analyst at Inrix.

He mentioned that heavy traffic actually shows that the wheels of the economy are turning.

"Heavy traffic can be an indicator that the wheels of the economy are turning. But congestion is also a hindrance because every minute spent waiting in traffic reduces productivity and wastes money,” he said.

Photo : Antara

The DKI government itself has not remained silent about the congestion. A number of traffic engineering measures have been implemented, especially during rush hours.

Starting from the odd-even license plate policy in Jakarta to contraflow on toll roads. In addition, mass transportation has also been increased to optimize community mobility.

10 Most Congested Cities in the World

1. Istanbul, Turkey
2. New York City, United States
3. Chicago, United States
4. Mexico City, Mexico
5. London, England
6. Paris, France
7. Jakarta, Indonesia
8. Los Angeles, United States
9. Cape Town, South Africa
10. Brisbane, Australia