Long Queues of Vehicles at Merak Port Due to Congestion at Bakauheni

Traffic flow towards Merak Port in Cilegon, Banten, is congested and crawling. Vehicle queues at Merak are occurring due to the enforcement of the Tiba Bongkar Berangkat (TBB) system to ease the density at Bakauheni, Lampung.

Observations by detikcom at the location on Tuesday (31/3/2026) showed dense traffic towards Merak Port on both the upper and lower Cikuasa arterial routes. On the upper Cikuasa, vehicles queued up to 1 kilometre.

Meanwhile, the traffic situation on the lower Cikuasa was similar, with vehicles moving slowly from the Merak toll gate intersection.

“The Tiba Bongkar Berangkat (TBB) system is currently being implemented, a scheme used to speed up crossings. At Bakauheni, TBB is enforced so that ferries can quickly reach Merak,” said the Head of Traffic Police at Cilegon Police, AKP Ridwan Koto, when contacted.

Ridwan explained that several docks at Merak Port are reducing the loading of vehicles onto ships, resulting in a slowdown in the loading process. Therefore, he said, traffic flow towards Merak Port is experiencing delays.

“To quickly clear the congestion at Bakauheni and make it flow smoothly, earlier there was some relief at Bakauheni. It’s not being slowed down, but reduced at the docks, so priority is given to those from Bakauheni first,” he stated.

Meanwhile, one truck driver, Suryono, said he has been queuing at the executive dock of Merak Port since 05:00 WIB, and by 09:00 WIB, he was still waiting for his turn to board the ship.

“Since 5 a.m., not yet (boarding the ship). There was a bit of a jam when exiting the toll earlier,” he said.

He was unaware of the reason for the long wait of up to 5 hours without boarding the ship. He was directed by officers to wait in the dock parking area to board the ship.

“I don’t know why, earlier they told me to wait here,” he said.