Avoid Setting Strict Travel Time Targets During Lebaran Exodus, Warns Road Safety Officials

BEKASI – As the Lebaran holiday exodus approaches, toll road users have been urged to refrain from setting overly strict travel time targets for their journeys.

The habit of targeting specific travel durations is assessed to potentially encourage drivers to accelerate excessively, increasing the risk of accidents.

Kris Ade Sudiyono, Secretary General of the Indonesian Toll Road Association (ATI), stated that the practice of targeting specific journey durations—for example, completing the Jakarta–Semarang route in a particular timeframe—represents incorrect driving behaviour.

According to him, many members of the public still boast about achieving fast travel times on toll roads. However, traffic conditions on the ground are not consistent throughout the entire journey.

“I often hear people say, ‘Now you can do Semarang in just 5 hours via toll, or 6 hours.’ I say, okay, 6 hours, if conditions are smooth from start to finish,” said Kris Ade.

“But we can see, just at Cikampek alone it takes 2 hours from Jakarta. So if only 3 hours remain, what speed would be required?” he added.

For this reason, Kris Ade emphasised that drivers should not use travel duration as their primary benchmark when driving on toll roads, particularly during peak periods such as the Lebaran exodus.

He also raised the issue of vehicle speed monitoring on toll roads. Whilst speed cameras exist, the technology cannot directly enforce compliance on individual vehicles.

“Speed cameras are in place, but they cannot directly enforce against each vehicle. That is, they cannot immediately stop a vehicle,” he said.

“So it comes back to what I say with the Jasa Marga managing director—when it comes to driving culture and behaviour, we must intensify communication through campaigns and similar measures,” he noted.