Severe Traffic Jam on Trans-Java Toll Road, Demak-Tangerang Selatan Trip Takes 16 Hours

REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA — A returnee from Demak, Huda, complained about the severe traffic jam on the Trans-Java Toll Road during the post-Lebaran return flow. A journey that should normally take around seven hours instead ballooned to 16 hours.

Huda recounted that he departed from Demak towards Ciputat, South Tangerang, in the afternoon. He entered the Jatingaleh Toll in Semarang around 4:30 PM WIB and arrived at the Kalikangkung Toll Gate around 5:00 PM WIB. However, from that point, traffic began to stutter.

“Entering Kalikangkung was already starting to jam, and the congestion continued all the way to Cipali,” said Huda when asked by Republika on Friday (27/3/2026).

According to him, this congestion was the worst he had experienced during his routine trips home using the Trans-Java Toll Road. He claimed to have only reached Cikampek Utara around 8:00 AM the next day, or after a 16-hour journey from Kalikangkung.

“This is the longest during my trips home via Trans-Java. Usually, it doesn’t take this long,” he said. Besides the density of vehicles, the full condition of rest areas also worsened the situation. Many returnees could not enter rest stops and ended up stopping on the roadside.

“Rest areas were full, many were closed. In the end, people rested on the roadside because of fatigue,” he said.

Huda also highlighted the cessation of traffic engineering such as the one-way system, which he deemed too quickly halted. In fact, according to him, the return flow had not fully cleared.

He hopes that the government and police can carry out more thorough calculations in managing the homecoming and return flows in the future. “It must be anticipated well, don’t rush to stop traffic engineering if the conditions are not truly safe,” he concluded.