All clear: Smooth traffic flow at land checkpoints on morning of CNY eve

With the upcoming Chinese New Year holiday, some travellers driving from Singapore to Malaysia faced delays during their journey on Thursday (Feb 8).

But traffic flow across the border appeared to be smooth on Friday morning.

Speaking to AsiaOne, a commuter who wanted to be known as Heng, said she and her family left for Malaysia at 4am and managed to clear customs at Woodlands checkpoint at around 5am.

Their journey along the Causeway was "quite smooth", though they had to wait for about 30 minutes to clear immigration at Johor Bahru checkpoint, said the 22-year-old part-time university student.

According to a Facebook group providing cross-border traffic updates, there was little to no congestion at the Causeway and Second Link at around 6.30am.

Real-time footage from the OneMotoring website at 9.45am showed that no traffic jams at Woodlands and Tuas Checkpoints, reported Shin Min Daily News.

At around 11am, a netizen shared on Facebook that he cleared immigration on both sides in 20 minutes, while another said: "Empty empty empty (Tuas). Faster go now".

[embed]https://www.tiktok.com/@jbsgcauseway/video/7333424500874300680[/embed]

This situation may not last, however, as the day goes on.

In a Facebook update at 11.50am, the Immigration & Checkpoints Authority said there was "heavy departure traffic" at Woodlands Checkpoint, with a departure car queue near Woodlands Avenue 3 on BKE.

"Delays are expected, and travellers are advised to check traffic conditions before embarking on their journey," said the authority.

Meanwhile, real-time traffic updates from Checkpoint.sg at 12.16pm stated that it would take travellers 65 to 100 minutes to enter Malaysia via Woodlands checkpoint, and 45 to 70 minutes via Tuas checkpoint.

Malaysia's Transport Minister Anthony Loke said on Thursday that all necessary steps are in place to manage the traffic flow at the Johor Causeway for the Chinese New Year period.

"If previously it took a few hours for the congestion to clear, right now, the clearance is a bit faster.

"There are already contra-flow lanes that would be activated to help with the traffic flow, and of course more immigration and customs counters would remain open," he told local media.

The Johor Immigration Department had previously anticipated over 400,000 travellers entering Malaysia through the Causeway and the Second Link during Chinese New Year.

"We will be activating our quick response team at both BSI and KSAB to ensure smooth traffic," said Johor immigration director Baharuddin Tahir then.

"We will make sure that all 284 immigration counters at BSI and 169 counters at KSAB remain open during this period and will also be activating contra-flow lanes for buses and cars to help the traffic flow."

lim.kewei@asiaone.com