Bogor/Bandung. Long traffic jams have been reported in various tourist destinations in West Java, such as Puncak in Bogor and Bandung. The congestion is a result of the extended holiday for Isra Mi'raj on Thursday, followed by Chinese New Year (Imlek) on Saturday, and the weekend break. After the weekend, many workers are taking a two-day leave as they will have another day off on Wednesday for the 2024 Elections voting.

State toll road operator Jasa Marga predicts that during this long weekend, around 905,392 vehicles will leave Jabodetabek, marking a 6.3 percent increase compared to normal traffic on toll roads. This is expected to occur from Feb. 7 to Feb. 12, 2024.

"The figure represents the cumulative traffic flow from four main toll gates, namely Cikupa Toll Gate (towards Merak in Banten Province), Ciawi Toll Gate (towards Puncak), and Cikampek Main Toll Gate (towards Trans Java) and Kalihurip Main Toll Gate (towards Bandung)," said Jasa Marga's spokesperson, Lisye Octaviana, on Wednesday.

She mentioned that the majority, about 424,918 vehicles, or 47 percent, are heading towards the east (Trans-Java and Bandung), 260,403 or 29 percent are heading west (Merak), and 220,071 vehicles or 24 percent are heading south (Puncak).

Entering Thursday afternoon, there was a surge in the number of vehicles on the Cipularang Purwakarta toll road from Jakarta to Bandung. Vehicles could only move at a crawl, sometimes coming to a halt along kilometer 89 of the Cipularang toll road in the Sukatani Purwakarta region, with the congestion stretching up to five kilometers behind.

Additionally, congestion resulted from the influx and exit of vehicles at the kilometer 88 rest area on the Cipularang-Purwakarta toll road. The situation was exacerbated by the uphill road contour from kilometer 83 in the Jatiluhur region.

The Toll Road Traffic Guard (PJR) officials of Cipularang carried out traffic management at the kilometer 88 rest area on the A lane to alleviate congestion and reduce density.

The PJR and traffic police in Karawang implemented contra-flow from kilometer 47 to kilometer 65 towards Cikampek due to the rising number of vehicles. The monitored vehicles were mainly buses, private cars, and some trucks heading to Cipali or Bandung. The surge in vehicles from Jakarta to Bandung and Cipali started on Thursday morning and is expected to continue until Thursday evening or night.

Meanwhile, the number of vehicles from Cikampek towards Jakarta and other areas appeared normal. The police continue to monitor the traffic flow on the Jakarta-Cikampek toll road to prevent accidents.

Meanwhile, the Puncak tourist area was swarmed with visitors, causing long traffic jams on Thursday morning. Anticipating this situation, the traffic authorities of the Bogor Police Traffic Unit enforced a one-way system starting at 9:00 AM.

Hundreds of vehicles have been trapped in long jams after the Jagorawi Toll Gate towards the Puncak route since Thursday morning. The congestion stretched from the Gadog Ciawi intersection in kilometer 48, to just before the Jagorawi toll gate at km 45.

"We have implemented a one-lane system towards Puncak in full, hopefully, the traffic will soon be relieved," said Bogor Police Traffic Unit Chief AKP Rizky Guntama.

According to him, the density of tourists heading to the Puncak route today has not reached its peak. "Currently, tourists have increased, but not significantly. It may reach its peak in the next couple of days," continued Rizky.

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