One-Way System Opens in Puncak, Unleashing Flood of Vehicles

The flow of returning holidaymakers from the Puncak area in Bogor, West Java, experienced total gridlock on Saturday afternoon. Thousands of vehicles travelling from Cianjur towards Bogor and Jakarta were held up for hours in the Riung Gunung to Gunung Mas area. The condition was caused by a one-way traffic system from Jakarta towards Puncak that had been enforced by the police since the morning. As a result, vehicles travelling in the opposite direction could not pass and became trapped in long queues. Based on observations in the field, the queue of vehicles from the Cianjur direction snaked along and filled the entire road. From the Puncak hills, thousands of cars and motorcycles could be seen packing the route, barely moving at all. Police officers only began to ease the congestion by opening the one-way route from Cianjur towards Jakarta at precisely 3 p.m. Western Indonesia Time. The flow was opened after the volume of vehicles heading from Jakarta to the Puncak tourist area began to show a decline. Several motorists reported having to wait up to four hours inside their vehicles before they could continue their journey. Despite the route to Jakarta being opened, traffic congestion was expected to persist into the evening given the high volume of returning holidaymakers leaving the Puncak area simultaneously. Police continued to manage traffic at congestion-prone points to ensure the flow of vehicles continued, albeit at a limited speed.