Residents who have left Jakarta to go to their hometowns in the annual Idul Fitri exodus, known locally as mudik, have shifted the capital'€™s chronic traffic jams to other areas in West Java and Central Java.

Long lines of buses and private cars were seen at the gates of the Cikampek toll road in West Java on Friday and heavy congestion was also seen along the northern coastal road, Pantura, in Central Java, usually the busiest route for the exodus.

To avoid the heavy road traffic congestion, 2,414 travelers took advantage of the free travel program organized by the Transportation Ministry by boarding the KM Ciremai passenger vessel.

Departing from Tanjung Priok Port in Jakarta, they arrived at Tanjung Emas Port in Semarang on Friday at 6:30 am. Along with them also went 1,200 motorcycles.

'€œWe departed from Tanjung Priok on Thursday at 4 p.m. It took about the same length of time compared to traveling by motorbike. Only this way we didn'€™t have to experience being trapped in traffic congestion,'€ Tulus, one of the passengers on board the ship said on Friday.

Rudi who hails from Ngawi, East Java, expressed the same satisfaction, saying that by making use of the free exodus program, his children had a much safer and more comfortable journey than by motorbike.

Meanwhile, as the exodus is expected to reach its peak across the archipelago this weekend, the police are taking all necessary measures to ensure the security of travelers'€™ homeward journeys.

In Lampung, the provincial police chief Brig. Gen. Heru Winarko gave an assurance that his force was ready to secure the travelers'€™ journeys from Bakauheni Port in Lampung to the borders with Bengkulu and South Sumatra provinces.

He called on travelers not to be afraid to continue their travel at night through Lampung province, stressing that his personnel had prepared security posts and deployed marksmen along the exodus routes.

'€œMarksmen have been placed in crime-prone areas such as along the Eastern Trans-Sumatra Highway [Jalintim], especially in Melinting subdistrict, Jabung district, East Lampung regency,'€ Heru said on Friday.

He said travelers passing through Lampung mostly avoided traveling at night for security reasons. This caused long queues of vehicles and passengers at Bakauheni as they preferred to spend the night there and wait for daylight before continuing their journeys.

In Cirebon, West Java, the police will also deploy hundreds of personnel to form '€œhuman barriers'€ along Java'€™s exodus routes in the regency to prevent traditional markets from spilling over on to the main roads.

Cirebon Police chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Irman Sugema said every traditional market located along the exodus route would be monitored by hundreds of police officers from two days prior to Idul Fitri, expected to fall on Monday, until the day after.

'€œWe will also receive supporting personnel from the regency Public Order Agency [Satpol PP] and from the military,'€ Irman said.

Nana Rukmana also contributed to the story.

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