Jakarta, the capital city of Indonesia, is where the National Monument is located. The National Monument in Indonesian translates to Monumen Nasional often shortened as Monas. Monas is situated in the center of Jakarta where governmental offices are located around the site. The business center is not far from there, right next to it.

Both the governmental area and business area share the same main road. The main road is one straight line that breaks off into smaller roads. This area is certainly packed and is not a stranger to traffic jams during working hour. Transportation such as motorcycle, car, and bus that produce smoke have contributed to Jakarta’s air pollution.

Even with the existence of public transportation, there are people who still choose to use private transportation due to efficiency and such. Public transportation in Jakarta can be said to be a bit lacking. Public transportation routes that lead to the center of Jakarta would be crowded where bodies are pressed together like a can of tuna. The government has done all it can and are still improving the public transportations.

I would like to give an example on how the use of transportation has a direct effect on air pollution. But first, I am going to explain the background story. As some of you may know, Indonesia has the largest Muslim populace. We have this period of time called lebaran, which is similar to thanksgiving, where people would go back to their village origin and eat together. The majority of people living in Jakarta are new comers, meaning they were not the original occupants. When lebaran comes, there is a stark difference in Jakarta. The roads would be deserted, meaning there would barely be any traffic. It was so deserted that someone even did a photo shoot in the middle of the road. Another person even took a photo of the air in Jakarta and made a comparison that shows the difference in Jakarta during any other day and during lebaran. You can see how the air during lebaran is a lot clearer than on any other day. This shows that people using transportation massively would have this effect. That is why we should be smart and use public transportation whenever possible, because at least we would lessen the total of air polution.