Gov't Mulls Over Limiting Vehicles Entering Trans Java Toll

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Transportation Ministry prepared a plan to limit the number of vehicles entering Trans Java toll road heading to Jakarta should the traffic congestion hard to ease.

The plan was taken into consideration because of heavy traffic from the east toward the west or Jakarta that might cause an endless queue of vehicles and severe congestion.

“If the condition is not clear yet, [we] possibly block the upstream. So perhaps, not all vehicles can enter the toll,” said the ministry’s head of research and development agency, Sugihardjo, in the National Coordinating Post for Integrated 2019 Eid Transportation, Sunday, June 9.

Sugihardjo explained if the traffic was clogged and the highway was packed, vehicles would be directed to pass the Java’s North Coastal Road (Pantura).

Read: Homecoming Return; Cikampek Toll Sees Severe Congestion

According to him, when the traffic sees gridlock, it will be problematic to be alleviated. Therefore, congestion must be controlled before it happens. “If [the Trans Java toll] is blocked, it means the entrance gate will be controlled. For example before Palimanan.”

Throughout the past two days on June 7-8, state-run toll operator Jasa Marga recorded 167,693 vehicles returned to Jakarta via Cikampek Utama toll gate. The figure increased 213,97 percent compared to that of on normal days’ 53,410 vehicles.

Meanwhile, the traffic hike during Eid homecoming return flow was predicted to continue today. Jasa Marga estimated around 82,810 cars would pass Cikampek Utama toll gate heading to Jakarta, jumped 210 percent than that of normal days at 26,705 vehicles.

CAESAR AKBAR