Minister Dody Identifies Culprits Behind Horrific Traffic Jam on Japek Toll Road During Eid Exodus

Commission V of the House of Representatives has requested Public Works Minister Dody Hanggodo to evaluate the locations of rest areas on the Jakarta-Cikampek Toll Road (Japek) that became the source of long traffic jams during the 2026 Eid exodus traffic. Commission V Chairman Lasarus highlighted several key notes from the commission’s oversight regarding the implementation of the exodus, one of which is the effectiveness of rest areas during the 2026 Eid exodus traffic. According to him, rest area issues remain an annual problem, from facilities to vehicle flow management. “Are there still problems at rest areas this year? Yes. This is an old issue and concerns public services, so it must be given serious attention,” Lasarus said during a working meeting on Tuesday (7/4/2026). Lasarus emphasised that although rest area management involves other parties, the government must still enhance oversight and service standards. “There must be improvements; don’t let this happen every year again; this is our collective task, including Commission V of the House of Representatives,” he explained. The Public Works Minister responded by stating he would evaluate the rest area problems on the Japek Toll Road that made long traffic jams inevitable, extending to the Japek Elevated Toll Road or MBZ. In a working meeting with Commission V of the House of Representatives on Tuesday (7/4/2026), Dody explained that the evaluation has already begun, with two rest area locations on the Japek Toll Road, namely at KM 57 and KM 62, identified as the causes of the long traffic jams during the 2026 Eid exodus traffic. “We reviewed it together with the Transport Minister and the National Traffic Police Chief yesterday; perhaps tomorrow the details will be further informed by the Transport Minister, but indeed there are several rest areas that we see as problem points, at KM 57 and KM 62. After this, we have agreed to carry out a major overhaul, specifically at those two rest areas,” Dody said. He also highlighted the rest area at KM 57 on the Japek Toll Road as the source of severe traffic congestion during the 2026 Eid exodus, because vehicles from the Japek MBZ Toll Road often stop there, in addition to vehicles from the Japek Toll Road also stopping, resulting in unavoidable density. “Actually, the rest area at KM 57, although the distance is still quite far from the MBZ Toll Road exit, about 9 km, but when the volume is extremely high like during the Eid exodus or Christmas and New Year 2025/2026, it becomes a point of quite severe congestion, so the traffic jam snakes long until the MBZ Toll Road,” he continued. Dody hopes that the overhaul of both rest areas can be completed before the Christmas and New Year holidays (Nataru) 2026/2027, so that in the future, traffic jams extending to the MBZ Toll Road will not occur again. “We will fix both rest areas, so that during Nataru 2026/2027 and Eid 2027, it won’t cause jams up to the MBZ Toll Road,” he clarified.