Travellers urged to avoid peak departure times during Eid exodus

Karawang — PT Jasa Marga has urged travellers using the Jakarta-Cikampek toll road to avoid peak departure times during the Eid holiday exodus.

“Usually, road users travelling home for Eid prefer departing in the morning, between 6am and 4pm,” said Ria Marlinda Paalo, Vice President of Corporate Secretary and Legal Affairs at PT Jasa Marga Trans Jawa Tol, speaking to journalists near the Cikampek Utama toll gate on Sunday.

Given these peak times, the toll operator has continuously advised travellers to choose alternative departure windows to avoid congestion.

“Just today, until the end of the first shift (4:30am-12:30pm), 23,000 vehicles passed through the Cikampek Utama toll gate. That’s already more than 100 per cent above normal,” Ria said.

A total of 23,610 vehicles passed through the Cikampek Utama toll gate in Karawang, West Java, travelling from Jakarta on the sixth day before Eid on Sunday between 12:00am and 12:44pm. This volume represents a significant increase compared to the seventh day before Eid on Saturday (14 March) during the same period, when 20,665 vehicles were recorded.

Three-axle trucks have become increasingly rare, as they have been restricted from using the toll road since 12:00pm under a joint decree governing traffic management for the 2026 Eid exodus.

No vehicle congestion has been observed at several toll booths at the Cikampek Utama gate heading towards Palimanan (from Jakarta). In the reverse direction from Palimanan to Jakarta, 8,093 vehicles have passed through the Cikampek Utama toll gate, roughly one-third of the traffic volume in the opposite direction.