Minister of Public Works urges returnees not to travel back simultaneously
Jakarta (ANTARA) - The Minister of Public Works (PU), Dody Hanggodo, has urged returnees not to undertake their return journeys simultaneously to prevent congestion on toll roads and national highways.
“Yes, the appeal is the same as that from the Head of the Indonesian National Police Traffic Corps (Kakorlantas) for the return journeys of returnees not to be simultaneous, but staggered so that the roads are not too crowded,” Dody said when met at the Ministry of Public Works in Jakarta on Wednesday.
According to him, the government has implemented a work-from-anywhere (WFA) policy that can be utilised by the public, allowing people to plan their travel as best as possible to avoid traffic congestion during the return flow.
“We’ve been given the opportunity for work from anywhere, so it should be possible to arrange that (travel plans),” he said.
Dody also conveyed that this year’s Eid homecoming flow was better than last year, and he hopes the return flow will remain as smooth as the outbound journey.
“In my view, it’s better than last year. Hopefully it stays that way, but we’re still waiting for the return flow. Hopefully it remains as smooth as the outbound flow yesterday,” he said.
“We’re trying to keep it that way, hopefully the weather also supports it, and friends who went home for Eid are willing to follow the government’s appeal not to return to Jakarta all at once so that vehicles are not too dense on toll roads or non-toll roads,” Dody added.
For information, the flow of vehicles and passengers returning to Jakarta and several other major cities continues to increase as the Eid holiday period 2026 ends, with surges in mobility observed across various modes of transportation, from toll roads and arterial routes to trains and flights.
This movement indicates the start of the busy return flow phase as returnees return to their routines after celebrating Eid al-Fitr with family in their hometowns.
On land routes, the volume of vehicles returning to the Jabotabek area continues to show an increase. Data from PT Jasamarga Transjawa Tol (JTT) shows that until Tuesday (24/3) night, 85,453 vehicles had passed out of the Cikampek Utama Toll Gate towards Jakarta.
Vice President Corporate Secretary and Legal of PT JTT, Ria Marlinda Paalo, said the surge in vehicle flow began to be visible from the evening, especially vehicles coming from Central Java.
As one of the main nodes for the return flow from Trans Java to Jakarta, the Cikampek Utama Toll Gate becomes a crucial point in managing vehicle distribution during the return flow period.
To maintain smooth traffic flow, toll operators are implementing various adjustments, from adding transaction lanes to applying traffic engineering such as the national one-way system and contraflow at several strategic points.
Cumulatively, PT Jasa Marga recorded 1.7 million vehicles returning to the Jabotabek area during the H-10 to H+2 Lebaran period or 11-23 March 2026.