No one likes to be stuck in a jam and while SOME jams are unavoidable, SOME jams are 101% avoidable. With a little bit of homework, you may have not to spend 5 hours on the bridge, waiting to start your exciting itinerary in JB or returning to Singapore. Here are 5 tips to avoid the JB causeway jam if you are not particularly patient or if you have better ways to spend those 5 hours 😉

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Tip #1: Public Holidays are a big no-no

I know this is more of a common sense but some people go ahead anyway because the jam can’t be THAT bad right?

Sorry to burst your bubbles, guys. The jam can be extremely bad. I have a couple of friends who drove in on the Good Friday long weekend (on the Friday itself) and all of them spent at least 8 hours on the road. Imagine leaving your home at 8am and only passing the Malaysia customs at 4pm. If this isn’t something you enjoy, please avoid entering JB on a public holiday or the start of a long weekend at all cost.

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Tip #2: Either depart early, or very late 

Be it weekends or weekdays, always aim to reach the customs by 8am. For weekends, you may want to reach the customs by 7am and I’m not kidding.

For weekdays, I always thought that I should enter JB after 9.30am so I can avoid the rush hour. I mean, there must be Singaporeans who work in Malaysia and they have to reach office at 9 right? Unfortunately, I can’t be further away from the truth. The jam gets progressively worse from 9am – 12pm so if you want to avoid spending at least 2 hours on the bridge (on a regular weekday), either be early or very late (like the night time kind of late).

Here’s how smooth the traffic can be at night 😉

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Tip #3: Don’t forget there’s a 2nd Link (Tuas Checkpoint)

Tuas may be a little out of the way (for most of us) but the time savings can be significant. You can check out the traffic cameras here before you set off and decide which would be better. On certain days, you can save up to 1-2 hours and moreover, it’s a short drive to Bukit Indah from 2nd link so it may not be a bad idea depending on your itinerary!

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Tip #4: Avoid the outer lanes

Sometimes it’s psychological when we think the ‘other lane’ is the faster lane. Sometimes it’s the truth. If you are on the bridge towards JB custom, you would realize that there are a total of 3 lanes. The left-most lane is the lane I almost take although the motorists are always too near my car and the middle lane is the one I always avoid. Why? Because the cars on the right-most lane would realize theirs is a bus lane and try to enter the middle lane. So, unless you want to be infuriated by drivers who always try to cut into your lane, take the left-most lane.

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Tip #5: Download ‘Beat the jam’

As what the app name suggests, this app helps you to beat the SG-JB causeway jam. It gives live updates on the traffic conditions on the causeway and provides a rough estimate on how long the journey would take. I have no idea how they get their estimates because I always end up spending more time crossing the causeway but if you see that it takes more than 100 minutes to cross the causeway, chances are … you’ll need to spend probably 150 minutes. Just buffer about 50% more time.

Better than nothing right? You can download the app here.

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So these are our humble suggestions on how you can lower the probability of being stuck in a jam. Let us know if it works or if you have more ideas how we can skip the jam! OR, if driving to JB sounds like too much of a trouble, why don’t you book a train ticket and get to JB within 5 minutes? 😉