Heavy congestion at Singapore-Malaysia border as Singaporeans head across the Causeway to spend Father's Day

SINGAPORE: Singaporeans heading into Johor Bahru over the weekend faced long delays at the land checkpoints on Saturday morning (June 20), as heavy traffic built up at both the Woodlands and Tuas crossings amid the June school holidays and Father’s Day weekend.

Congestion began early in the day at the Singapore-Malaysia land borders, with large numbers of travellers making their way into Johor. The surge in cross-border movement comes as many Singaporeans continue to take advantage of the stronger Singapore dollar when spending in Malaysia.

According to the Checkpoint.sg mobile application, travel times from Woodlands Checkpoint to Johor Bahru were estimated at between 100 and 150 minutes on Saturday morning. At Tuas Checkpoint, commuters were facing waiting times of between 75 and 110 minutes.

The Immigration & Checkpoints Authority (ICA) said the congestion at Woodlands Checkpoint was linked to traffic backlogs on the Malaysian side of the border.

In a Facebook update posted at 8:05 a.m., ICA warned travellers to expect delays and advised them to check traffic conditions before setting off on their journey.

“Heavy departure traffic at Woodlands Checkpoint due to tailback from Malaysia. Delays are expected and travellers are advised to check traffic conditions before embarking on their journey. Please follow ICA Facebook for more updates,” the authority said.

The traffic situation also affected public transport services. Earlier, at 7:48 a.m., authorities announced that bus services 170 and 170X had been diverted because of congestion on roads leading to the checkpoint. Instead of travelling via Woodlands Road, the buses were rerouted along Woodlands Avenue 3 and Woodlands Centre Road towards Woodlands.

The weekend rush coincides with a strengthening Singapore dollar, which has boosted the purchasing power of Singaporeans travelling across the Causeway.

On Friday morning (June 19), the Singapore dollar climbed above the RM3.20 mark against the Malaysian ringgit for the first time in six months. Data from Google Finance showed the Singapore dollar reaching RM3.2049 at 11:35 am, its highest level since falling below RM3.20 in early November last year.

The move follows the United States Federal Reserve’s decision on Wednesday (17 June) to leave its benchmark federal funds rate unchanged. Analysts have noted that the Fed’s stance is expected to support the US dollar, while higher oil prices and continuing foreign capital outflows have added pressure on several Asian currencies.

Although the Singapore dollar has softened slightly against the US dollar over the past two months and was trading at around S$1.29 to the greenback, the Malaysian ringgit has weakened more significantly. On Friday morning, the ringgit fell to a six-month low of RM4.14 against the US dollar, helping to drive the Singapore dollar-ringgit exchange rate above the RM3.20 level.

The favourable exchange rate is expected to encourage more Singaporeans to visit Johor for shopping, dining and leisure activities during the school holiday period, contributing to the heavy traffic seen at the land crossings this weekend.

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