Heavy traffic hit highways three days after Idul Fitri celebrations as holiday travelers, set to return to work on Tuesday, embarked on risky return trips to Jakarta and other cities across the country Monday.
Police called on returning travelers on motorcycles not to take wives or children, urging they use the bus or train instead.
National Police representative Sr. Comr. Marwoto Soeto said out of 1,098 traffic accidents reported since Sept. 3 to Sunday night, the majority concerned motorcycles.
He said that accidents had killed 243 people, leaving 316 heavily injured and 619 less seriously injured.
“The highest number of traffic accidents were recorded in Central and East Java,” he told kompas.com.
National Police spokesman Brig. Gen. Iskandar Hasan said the return trips were predicted to reach its peak Monday since many, including civil servants and other employees, had to return to work on Tuesday. But he urged holiday travelers to obey traffic regulations.
“Don’t push yourself beyond your limit. It’s better to rest when tired. It’s better to arrive one day late than checking in one minute faster into a hospital,” Iskandar told kompas.com.
Thousands of vehicles had used the northern Pantura coastal highway, which connects Jakarta to cities in Java, since Monday morning.
Head of Indramayu regency’s Transportation Agency traffic division, H. Kusin, said on Monday that 85,416 cars and motorcycles used the highway on Sunday.
“But the traffic gets heavier today [Monday]. We estimate the peak in return trips would be tonight,” the Antara news agency reported.
Secretary of West Java Transportation Agency, Endang Sobiring, said a 20 percent increase in traffic volume in the province’s northern, central and southern routes, had left many travelers stuck in traffic jams.
He agreed this year’s congestion was more severe than previously.
“The growth in vehicle traffic is 30 percent higher but road infrastructure stays the same. So it’s natural to see traffic jams” he told The Jakarta Post in Bandung on Monday.
Separately, West Java Police chief Insp. Gen. Sutarman said the holiday exodus through the newly completed Nagrek ring road reached its peak two days before Idul Fitri.
He said 101,405 vehicles took the route or 35 percent higher than in 2009, when 76,763 vehicles did so.
Endang said Nagrek still could not solve the traffic problem as it only reduced pressure on one route.
“Many chokepoints are located on roadsides, not to mention traditional markets and tourist sites. It’s hard to avoid congestion,” he said.
Sutarman said the holiday travelers passing through West Java had increased, from seven million vehicles in 2009 to nine million this year.
At Jakarta’s Senen train station, no surge of arriving passengers was spotted on Monday.
“We don’t see a rise in returning passengers yet. In fact, we see more people leaving Jakarta for their hometowns after Idul Fitri,” train company PT Kereta Api Indonesia’s spokesman Mateta Rijaulhaq told kompas.com.
He said that based on train reservations, most passengers would arrive back in Jakarta at the weekend.
