Severe Traffic Jam on Road to Merak Port, Drivers Trapped for Hours

A long traffic jam occurred on the road to Merak Port from early Tuesday (31/3) until approaching noon. The congestion was seen snaking along the Cikuasa Bawah and Cikuasa Atas road sections. Even some lorry drivers had been trapped since 05:00 WIB and only entered the port around 09:00 WIB. “Carrying a package from Soekarno-Hatta Airport, left at 3 am, arrived at Cikuasa Atas around 5 am. It’s 10 am now and still queuing, haven’t boarded the ferry,” said Ahmad, a lorry driver heading to Padang, when met at Merak Port. A similar situation befell Suryono. He had been stuck in traffic and unable to board the ferry for 5 hours. He claimed to have been queuing at the Merak Executive Pier since 05:00 WIB and up to now had not entered the ferry. “Since 5 am, haven’t (boarded the ferry). Exited the toll earlier with a bit of traffic. Don’t know why (the jam), was told to wait here,” said Suryono. Another complaint came from Hamdan, a lorry driver carrying a package who had also been queuing for hours outside the port. Hamdan said that even after entering Merak Port, they still could not board the ferry because they had to queue first. “Until past 10:00, still queuing outside the port,” he said. Cause of the Jam The cause of the long congestion that snaked until outside Merak Port was due to the enforcement of the Tiba, Bongkar, Berangkat (TBB) from Bakauheni Port, Lampung. The Head of Traffic Police at Cilegon Police, AKP Ridwan Kotomeng, said that Jalan Cikuasa Atas and Cikuasa Bawah experienced density, which was eventually resolved by the police by directing vehicles into Merak Port. “The Tiba Bongkar Berangkat (TBB) system is being implemented, a scheme used to speed up crossings, where TBB is applied in Bakauheni so they can arrive quickly in Merak,” he said. Of the seven piers, only two are used for the loading process from Merak Port. Meanwhile, 4 piers are used for TBB. Specifically, the Executive Pier operates normally, namely for embarking and disembarking passengers and vehicles. Merak Port is currently dominated by large vehicles, such as lorries and buses. This follows restrictions during the 2026 Eid al-Fitr homecoming and return flow. “So that in Bakauheni it clears quickly, empties quickly, earlier there was smoothness for Bakau. Not slowed down, but reduced for the piers, so priority to those from Bakau first,” he said.