DKI Jakarta Government and Police Take Steps to Ease Cakung-Cilincing Container Congestion
Severe congestion frequently occurs on the Cakung-Cilincing highway due to queues of container trucks. The DKI Jakarta Provincial Government and the police have undertaken various efforts to ease the gridlock.
As a first step, the DKI Jakarta Transportation Agency (Dishub) closed several U-turns along the Bekasi Highway to the Cakung-Cilincing Highway every afternoon. Head of the DKI Jakarta Transportation Agency, Budi Awaluddin, stated that the traffic engineering began to be implemented around 19:00 WIB on Wednesday (22/7/2026). As a result, by approximately 19:30 WIB, traffic flow in both directions began to move again and the density gradually dispersed. “Alhamdulillah, everything was resolved. Both the left and right sides are now very smooth after the traffic engineering with the closure of U-turns in Cakung, Babek, and JGC,” Budi said in a statement on Thursday (23/7/2026).
According to Budi, the traffic engineering will be reapplied on Thursday (24/7) starting at 15:00 WIB. The closure of U-turns in the Cakung, Babek, and Jakarta Garden City (JGC) areas is intended to anticipate a surge in vehicle density during rush hour. “We will continue the traffic engineering starting at 15:00 WIB with the closure of U-turns at these points to keep traffic flowing smoothly,” he said. In implementing this traffic engineering, the DKI Transportation Agency deployed around 75 personnel, including 30 from the East Jakarta Transportation Sub-agency, 30 from the North Jakarta Transportation Sub-agency, and 15 from the provincial level, stationed at various crucial points.
Governor of DKI Jakarta, Pramono Anung, has made parking free for empty containers at the Tanah Merdeka Terminal in East Jakarta until 5 August 2026. The policy was adopted to ease the severe congestion on the Bekasi Highway to the Cakung-Cilincing Highway caused by queues of container trucks. Pramono instructed the Head of the DKI Transportation Agency, Budi Awaluddin, to ensure empty containers are no longer parked on the road. He said that instead, all containers would be directed into the Tanah Merdeka Terminal, which functions as a buffer zone. “I have decided, and I called the Head of the Transportation Agency, Mr Budi, last night, that we ask for the empty containers not to be parked on the streets. No more parking on the streets. That is what causes the extraordinary congestion,” Pramono said in Tanjung Priok, North Jakarta, on Thursday (23/7).
Pramono noted that the Tanah Merdeka Terminal has the capacity to hold more than 200 empty containers. The DKI Provincial Government will provide discretion in the form of a temporary parking fee waiver. “So we are using the Tanah Merdeka Terminal as a buffer zone. And because these are mostly empty containers, they do not want to pay distribution costs. Therefore, from 22 July to 5 August, the DKI Jakarta Provincial Government is providing a fee waiver so they do not park along the streets,” he said. Pramono explained that the congestion was caused by an imbalance between the flow of imported containers and empty containers for export. As a result, many empty containers accumulated and were parked along the road. “So once again, we ask anyone involved in that activity to please utilise the discretion issued by the Governor to park at Tanah Merdeka, which can accommodate more than 200 containers,” he added.
As a consequence of this severe congestion, the DKI Jakarta Transportation Agency summoned 19 container depots in the Cakung and Cilincing areas of North Jakarta. This step was taken to find a solution so that queues of container trucks do not paralyse traffic again. Head of the DKI Jakarta Transportation Agency, Budi Awaluddin, said the meeting with depot managers was held on Thursday (24/7). A total of 19 depots were summoned, consisting of seven depots in the eastern region and 12 depots in the northern region. “We summoned all the depots around here. There are 19 in total. Seven in the east, 12 in the north,” Budi said in the Cakung-Cilincing area on Thursday (23/7). During the meeting, the agency will also convey the DKI Jakarta Provincial Government’s policy directing container trucks to wait at the Tanah Merdeka Terminal. The policy is expected to reduce vehicle queues on the road. He explained that the Transportation Agency had carried out traffic engineering by closing U-turns in the Cakung area, which were points of vehicle build-up. The trucks were then directed to the Tanah Merdeka Terminal, which has a capacity of about 200 vehicles. “Earlier we saw it was very congested and not moving at all. It turned out one of the causes was at this U-turn. Therefore, we closed this U-turn and directed them to Tanah Merdeka. Rather than waiting here with a long queue. Now we see it is somewhat smoother,” he explained. He also urged truck drivers who have to wait their turn to enter the depot to use the Tanah Merdeka Terminal as a temporary parking location. “For drivers who have to wait a long time on the road, it is better for them to go to the Tanah Merdeka Terminal. It can accommodate 200 trucks. We direct everyone to go there,” he said.
In addition, the police also took action against trucks parked haphazardly on the side of the Cakung-Cilincing road in East Jakarta. These trucks parked on the roadside disrupted traffic in the Cakung and Cilincing areas. One enforcement point was on Jalan Babek TNI Cakung-Cilincing, North Jakarta. The trucks were found parked on the roadside up to the Jakarta Garden City (JGC) U-turn. “The North Jakarta Traffic Unit took action against truck drivers parking improperly, so as not to cause traffic density,” stated the Polda Metro Jaya Traffic Management Centre via its X account.