National Traffic Police Chief Ensures Controlled Flow at Merak and Ciwandan Ports

JAKARTA — The Chief of the National Traffic Police Corps (Kakorlantas) of the Indonesian National Police, Inspector General Agus Suryonugroho, confirmed that traffic flow at the Merak and Ciwandan ferry crossing routes in Banten remained under control during the early morning hours of Wednesday, 18 March 2026.

The inspection was conducted at both Merak and Ciwandan ports to monitor vehicle movement volumes ahead of the peak Eid homecoming period.

Agus stated that traffic conditions on the route towards Merak were running smoothly without significant disruptions.

“As we predicted, on the 18th, the peak of the Eid transport period will occur. However, as you can observe, throughout the journey, thanks to excellent coordination with the Traffic Police and the Banten Police Regional Office, residents heading towards Merak can travel smoothly without any meaningful disruptions on the road,” said the Kakorlantas in a statement on Wednesday.

In addition, he confirmed that the security and public order situation remained conducive.

No significant incidents were found during the monitoring operation, whilst the conditions of security, safety, order, and traffic flow (kamseltibcarlantas) remained under control.

“The state is present to ensure that the homecoming journey and the return journey run safely, smoothly, and filled with joy for the public who wish to reunite with their families in their hometowns,” said the Kakorlantas.

This policy was implemented following awareness campaigns and route clearing operations from the Trans Java direction.

Agus stated that the traffic engineering measures were applied from KM 70 to KM 263.

Subsequently, a national one-way homecoming traffic flow would be implemented from KM 70 to KM 414 Kalikangkung, Central Java, to facilitate vehicle flow towards the Trans Java route.

However, for westbound traffic, including towards Banten, no additional traffic engineering measures were implemented.

“Meanwhile, traffic towards Jakarta up to the Merak-Bakauheni crossing remains controlled, so the implementation of one-way traffic towards Banten is not yet necessary,” he concluded.

Also present during the visit were Minister of Transportation Dudy Purwagandhi, Banten Governor Andra Soni, and the Director General of River, Lake and Ferry Transport (ASDP) Heru Widodo.