Minister of Public Works Urges Returnees Not to Travel Back Simultaneously During Return Flow

Public Works Minister Dody Hanggodo has urged returnees to avoid travelling back simultaneously. This is to prevent congestion on toll roads and national highways. “Yes, the appeal is the same as that from the Head of the National Police Traffic Corps for the return journeys (of holidaymakers) 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 (25/3/2026). According to him, the government has established a work from anywhere (WFA) policy that can be utilised by the public. Thus, the public can arrange their travel plans as best as possible to avoid traffic density during the return flow. “We’ve been given the opportunity for work from anywhere, so travel plans should be able to be arranged accordingly,” he said. Dody also conveyed that this year’s Eid outbound flow was better than last year, and it is hoped that the return flow will remain as smooth as the outbound one. “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 the other day,” he said. “We’re trying our best, hopefully the weather also supports it and the friends who went home for the holidays are willing to follow the government’s appeal not to return to Jakarta all at once so that vehicles on toll roads and non-toll roads are not too congested,” 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 seen across various modes of transportation from toll roads, arterial routes, trains, to flights. This movement indicates the start of the busy return flow phase as holidaymakers return to routines after celebrating Eid al-Fitr with families in their hometowns. On land routes, the volume of vehicles returning to the Jabodetabek 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 from 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 flow, toll operators are carrying out various adjustments, from adding transaction lanes to implementing traffic engineering such as the national one-way system and contraflow at several strategic points. Cumulatively, PT Jasa Marga recorded 1.7 million vehicles had returned to the Jabodetabek area in the H-10 to H+2 Eid period or 11–23 March 2026.