The government will free up toll roads if users are trapped in a 5-kilometer traffic jam starting from the exit gates, says an official.

The Transportation Ministry’s land transportation director general, Budi Setiadi, said in Jakarta on Monday the policy had been agreed to by the relevant ministries and the National Police in an effort to ease traffic congestion on toll roads.

 “We implemented the policy on the Kalisari-Tegal toll road [in Central Java] when the traffic jams reached 3 km. We will free up the exit gates for 10 minutes before the operators close it,” said Budi, adding that it was an effective way to ease gridlock.

He added that the police have the authority to free up toll gates after assessing the situation.

“The policy will be implemented during the Idul Fitri holiday on all toll roads,” said Budi as quoted by kontan.co.id.

Greater Jakarta Transportation Body (BPTJ) chairman Bambang Prihartono said in trying to ease traffic jams, the agency had coordinated with presidential staff.

“Yesterday, Presidential Chief of Staff Moeldoko invited us to a meeting to agree on performance indicators,” said Bambang, adding that the tolerated length for traffic congestion was 2 km.

“When congestion hits the 2 km mark, there should be traffic engineering,” he added. (bbn)