Brebes Timur Exit () is one of the most famous toll road exits in Indonesia. It is also known as Brebes Exit or Brexit, a name inspired by a UK political term to leave the European Union. It is located in

Brebes Regency Brebes (, , ) is a Regencies of Indonesia, regency () in the northwestern part of Central Java province in Indonesia. It covers an area of 1,769.62 km2, and it had a population of 1,733,869 at the 2010 CensusBiro Pusat Statistik, Jakarta, ...

Central Java Central Java (, ) is a Provinces of Indonesia, province of Indonesia, located in the middle of the island of Java. Its administrative capital is Semarang. It is bordered by West Java in the west, the Indian Ocean and the Special Region of Yogya ...

on the Pejagan–Pemalang segment, a continuation of the Kanci–Pejagan segment of

Trans-Java Toll Road The Trans-Java Toll Road is a toll road, tolled controlled-access highway, expressway network in Java, the island of Java, Indonesia, runs from Port of Merak in Cilegon, the main link between the island of Sumatra and Java, to Banyuwangi, the eas ...

network. Construction of Pejagan–Pemalang toll road began in 2014, and prior to 2016 ''

mudik (sometimes also known as ) is an Indonesian language, Indonesian term for the activity where migrants or migrant workers return to their hometown or village during or before major holidays, especially Lebaran (Eid al-Fitr). Although the homecom ...

'', the first of two sections road, Pejagan to West Brebes, and West Brebes to East Brebes, were opened. It is infamous for multi-thousand vehicle traffic jams and deaths that occurred after opening the junction prior to the 2016 ''

'' or homecoming period, at the end of the month of

Ramadan Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar. It is observed by Muslims worldwide as a month of fasting (''Fasting in Islam, sawm''), communal prayer (salah), reflection, and community. It is also the month in which the Quran is believed ...

and at the beginning of the following month of Syawal, as some population of

Jakarta Jakarta (; , Betawi language, Betawi: ''Jakartè''), officially the Special Capital Region of Jakarta (; ''DKI Jakarta'') and formerly known as Batavia, Dutch East Indies, Batavia until 1949, is the capital and largest city of Indonesia and ...

left the city to return to their home village for the Muslim festival of

Lebaran is the Indonesian popular name for two Islamic official holidays, Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha in Indonesia, and is one of the major national holidays in the country. holiday officially lasts for two days in the Indonesian calendar, although th ...

(

Eid al-Fitr Eid al-Fitr () is the first of the two main Islamic holidays, festivals in Islam, the other being Eid al-Adha. It falls on the first day of Shawwal, the tenth month of the Islamic calendar. Eid al-Fitr is celebrated by Muslims worldwide becaus ...

). There are in fact two Brebes exits: Brebes Timur (East Brebes) toll booth at KM 268 (from Jakarta) and Brebes Barat (West Brebes) toll booth at KM 263. However, as Brebes Timur was the end of the Trans-Java toll road in that year, it created a massive tailback as vehicles exited the highway for onward travel.

2016 jams

During Lebaran 2016, the tailback at Brebes Exit reached long. Seventeen people died on a single day. The deaths and delays at Brexit were primarily caused by payment delays as users pay the tolls, which in 2015 totaled Rp 146.500 for the journey from Jakarta to Brexit. There was a railroad crossing and a traffic lamp-equipped junction in the access road to Java Northern Coast Road (National Route 1), making the tailback longer. As a result of numerous vehicles running out of fuel at Brexit contributing further to delays and congestion, enterprising vendors sold fuel for upwards, of Rp 50.000/litre, more than six times of its official price. As a result, at 2017 ''mudik'' season, the state petroleum company

Pertamina PT Pertamina (Persero) is an Indonesian state-owned oil and natural gas corporation, headquartered in Jakarta. It was created in August 1968 by the merger of ''Pertamin'' (established 1961) and ''Permina'' (established in 1957). In 2020, the ...

announced that it would set up mobile kiosks, motorbikes with fuel canisters and other facilities to provide fuel to stranded motorists. By the end of 2017, the Indonesian government plans to eliminate cash tolls in favor of contact-less charge cards, which will greatly reduce the time taken for a vehicle to pass through toll booths.

References

{{reflist, 30em Toll roads in Java Brebes Regency Transport infrastructure completed in 2016 2016 road incidents in Asia Road incidents in Indonesia