T

he National Police Traffic Corps (Korlantas) is preparing to roll out a traffic scheme to reduce the traveling time from Jakarta to a number of cities in Central Java during the Idul Fitri Holiday exodus, expected to fall on Aug. 7.

Korlantas Deputy chief Brig. Gen. Agung Budi Maryoto said that the corps had received orders from the National Police chief Gen. Timur Pradopo to cut down the average traveling time from 20 to 16 hours.

Agung said that the corps is in talks with the Transportation Ministry about the plan.

'One of our strategies is to increase use of public transportation. We will persuade travelers who usually ride motorcycles to take a bus,' Agung said.

During the annual exodus, people who live in Jakarta depart for their hometowns to celebrate the holiday with their families.

The exodus has, in the past, created massive traffic jams along highways in Java and Sumatra.

This year, the police will make efforts to dissuade homeward-bound travelers from riding on motorbikes especially when they have children.

'We will be stricter this year. Police officers will order them to get off their motorcycles. We are planning to provide busses for them to continue the journey. We do not want children to die during the trip,' the National Police spokesman Brig. Boy Rafli told reporters.

Boy was referring to an accident when an infant died from suffocation while the parents rode a motorbike on their long way home.

State-owned railway operator, PT KAI has started work to improve safety ahead of Idul Fitri.

PT KAI spokesman, Mateta Rizalulhaq said that efforts would be doubled to ensure that trains will carry no stowaways.

'From Lebaran 2010, we have been double-checking passengers, so it will be hard for those who don't have tickets to climb on board our trains and even sit on the roof of trains. We guarantee that there will be no more overloaded trains with high accident risks,' he said.

PT KAI also considered the safety of railways in rural areas, where vandals often hurl rocks at passing trains, causing damage and injury to passengers.

'We have been running a public awareness campaign, especially in villages close to the railways. We told them about the importance of taking good care of railways, because that is their obligation according to the law,' Mateta said.

To anticipate possible natural disaster, such as landslide which can damage railways, PT KAI will assign rapid response teams in every station.

'For example, if a landslide wrecks some railway tracks, the team will tell adjacent stations and trains about the situation to prevent accidents. Then they will replace the damaged rails or ties as a fast and effective solution,' Mateta said.

The vice president of Safety Department of PT KAI, Ahmad Najib, said that the company has cooperated with Australasian Railway Association (ARA) on integrated safety management system. 'We have been learning from ARA to improve our soft skills and created a map system to identify the disaster-prone areas, so we can focus on protecting the railways there,' Ahmad said.

The number of train accidents has decreased over the last few years. (ian)