Traffic Corps Prepares Traffic Engineering for Return Flow, Including National "One Way" Option

JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com - The Indonesian National Police Traffic Corps (Korlantas) is preparing several traffic engineering scenarios to address the Lebaran 2026 return flow, including the possibility of implementing a national one-way system. Korlantas Chief Irjen Agus Suryonugroho stated that these scenarios are being readied to anticipate a surge in vehicles expected during the return flow period. “For the return flow, as it will be quite high, we will prepare starting on the 24th. On the 24th, we will prepare for the return flow, including traffic management scenarios,” said Agus during a press conference at Polda Metro Jaya, Jakarta, on Friday (20/3/2026) evening. “The outbound mudik one-way has already been closed because the traffic flow has returned to normal, so it was closed at 14:22 by the Chief of Police,” he added. However, Agus continued, an increase in vehicle volume is expected again during the return flow, particularly on 24 March and 28-29 March 2026. To this end, Korlantas, together with various stakeholders, has prepared several anticipatory measures, including the option to reapply traffic engineering such as the national one-way system. In addition, the government’s work-from-anywhere (WFA) policy implemented on 25-27 March 2026 is also expected to affect the return flow movement patterns. “With the work-from-anywhere policy, there might also be a second return flow on the 28th and 29th (March). We have prepared this with stakeholders to carry out traffic engineering,” he said. Korlantas assures that all traffic engineering scenarios will be applied situationally according to field conditions to maintain the smoothness of the return flow. This policy was taken after the vehicle flow conditions were assessed as having stabilised and been controlled on several main routes. Korlantas Chief Irjen Agus Suryonugroho explained that this decision was made after a comprehensive evaluation of vehicle volumes passing through since the engineering began on 18 March 2026. Before the flow was normalised, officers had conducted socialisation and route sterilisation to ensure rider safety.