WITH the Labour Day holiday coming up on Thursday and the enhanced security checks at the checkpoints, traffic flow through the land checkpoints at Woodlands and Tuas is expected to be heavy over the next few days.

For departures, the build-up is expected to start from Wednesday evening. For arrivals, traffic is expected to be heavy over the period from Saturday to Sunday.

The Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) on Tuesday advised travellers intending to use the land checkpoints during the peak periods to adjust their travel plans and avoid the peak periods if they want to avoid the traffic jam.

'With enhanced security checks, traffic build-up is inevitable, particularly when a large number of travellers want to use the checkpoints at the same time,' said an ICA statement on Tuesday.

It urged those driving to play a part to ease congestion at the land checkpoints by maintaining lane discipline, car-pool or make use of public transport.

Singaporean travellers with valid passports and who are registered with the National Registration Office can use the eIACS (Enhanced Immigration Automated Clearance System) lanes at the bus halls to clear immigration. The eIACS allows travellers to clear immigration through automated lanes within 12 seconds at no additional cost.

Travellers departing Singapore by land will be able to know in advance the traffic situation at Tuas and Woodlands from the LTA's Expressway Monitoring & Advisory System (EMAS) installed along AYE and BKE respectively.

They can also call the traffic information hotline at 6863-0117 or listen to TrafficWatch on the radio to find out the latest traffic conditions at the land checkpoints. You can also know the latest traffic conditions via Short Message Service (SMS) by dialling *112.