Jakarta. State-run toll road operator Jasa Marga said Tuesday that nearly 3.1 million vehicles would leave Jakarta via the four main tollgates this holiday season.

This marks a 17.9 percent increase compared to the normal traffic of cars passing by those tollgates. However, the figures show that the volume of vehicles exiting Indonesia’s most modern city for Christmas and New Year’s holidays only goes up by 2.4 percent compared to the same period in 2023. The data from toll road operator Jasa Marga encompasses the potential traffic in the four main tollgates -- Cikampek, Kalihurip, Cikupa, and Ciawi -- starting from Dec. 18 to Jan. 4.

“We expect the volume of cars leaving Jakarta to peak on Dec. 21 for the Christmas holidays, reaching 235,381 vehicles. Traffic [on that day] in the four main toll gates will soar 41 percent compared to normal times, and up by 0.9 percent year-on-year,” Jasa Marga’s president director Subakti Syukur told the press in Jakarta on Tuesday. 

According to Jasa Marga, about 3 million vehicles are expected to enter Jakarta over the same 18-day period. Jakarta-bound traffic is set to jump by 18.6 percent compared to normal days. The traffic levels are also 2.19 percent higher compared to the 2023 holiday season.

The return flow of travelers coming back from their Christmas holidays will peak on Dec. 29. The four tollgates will see 221,766 Jakarta-bound vehicles on that day. The volume of vehicles returning to Jakarta on Dec. 29 will be 22 percent higher than usual traffic, and up by 1 percent versus the same period last year.