A new rotation of Cali’s pico y placa vehicle restriction programme came into force on Wednesday, 1 July 2026, triggering a one-off double restriction for cars with plates ending in 3 and 4. Because the previous semester’s schedule also barred those digits on Tuesday 30 June, the same vehicles are banned from the city’s main corridors for two consecutive days. The measure, which operates from 06:00 to 19:00 on weekdays, now assigns each weekday a new pair of plate endings: 9 and 0 on Mondays, 1 and 2 on Tuesdays, 3 and 4 on Wednesdays, 5 and 6 on Thursdays, and 7 and 8 on Fridays. Cali’s mobility secretary framed the rotation as a tool to manage congestion and promote sustainable transport, with no changes to the existing hours or weekend exemptions.

In the Mexico City metropolitan area, the Hoy No Circula programme continued its standard weekday schedule on the same day, barring vehicles with red stickers, plates ending in 3 or 4, and hologram 1 or 2 from 05:00 to 22:00. The restriction now applies not only in the capital’s 16 boroughs and 18 conurbation municipalities in the State of Mexico, but also in 22 additional municipalities across the Toluca Valley and Santiago Tianguistenco regions, following an expansion that took effect in July 2025. Electric, hybrid, and public-transport vehicles remain exempt, while fines for non-compliance range from 2,346 to 3,519 pesos depending on the jurisdiction. Authorities in the State of Mexico note that contingency-related extensions follow separate protocols in the newer zones.

Across the Pacific, Jakarta enforced its odd-even licence-plate policy on the same Wednesday, a working day. With the calendar date an odd number, only vehicles with plates ending in 1, 3, 5, 7, or 9 were permitted on 26 designated roads during the morning (06:00–10:00) and evening (16:00–21:00) peak periods. The system, governed by a 2019 gubernatorial regulation, exempts motorcycles, electric vehicles, public transport, and emergency services. Violations carry a maximum fine of 500,000 rupiah or up to two months’ imprisonment under national traffic law.

Viewed together, the three cities illustrate a persistent policy trend in large emerging-economy conurbations: using licence-plate-based circulation limits to tackle congestion and air quality. While Mexico City’s programme has operated for over three decades and Jakarta’s odd-even scheme has been in place since 2016, Cali’s semiannual rotation is a more recent adaptation. Officials in Mexico City have signalled that a broader review of Hoy No Circula is under way, though no formal changes have been announced. The next concrete milestone for drivers is the end of the current Cali rotation on 31 December 2026, when a new semester schedule will again reset the weekday assignments.