T

ravelers were still making their way back to Jakarta after the Idul Fitri holiday from a number of regions across Java on Tuesday.

In West Java, convoys of vehicles from the east were seen heading toward the Greater Jakarta area.

West Java Transportation Agency head Deddy Taufik predicted that the scene would continue until Thursday or 10 days after Idul Fitri.

'€œAn estimated 1.2 million vehicles are expected to return [to Greater Jakarta],'€ Deddy said in Bandung on Tuesday.

He said he could not predict when exactly traffic would return to normal after Idul Fitri, as many travelers were going by their own schedules.

They, according to Deddy, excluded local travelers traveling to different tourist destinations in the province.

West Java Police chief Insp. Gen. M. Iriawan said that considering the phenomenon, the police had decided to extend Idul Fitri return trip services until 10 days after the celebration that marks the end of Ramadhan fasting month.

'€œWe predict that those who have no boss or office won'€™t return until 10 days after Idul Fitri,'€ Iriawan said.

He added that many monitoring posts were still in operation in Kadipaten for the central route, in Nagreg for the southern route and in Cikopo for the main route.

Iriawan said that the Idul Fitri exodus and return trips in his jurisdiction this year had gone relatively smoothly because a trip from Cikopo to Pejagan could be completed in between eight and nine-and-a-half hours.

The same Idul Fitri trip service extension was also applied by state-run railway company PT KAI for non-subsidized trains servicing long- and medium-distance routes in Java.

'€œThe services for the subsidized trains end on Tuesday,'€ the company'€™s president director, Ignatius Jonan, said in Semarang, Central Java, on Monday.

He said the decision to extend the services for non-subsidized trains was made because as of Aug. 1, some 21,000 exodus travelers had yet to be transported from Senen train station, Central Jakarta.

Jonan also said that according to the company'€™s calculations, people actually had the capability of buying non-subsidized train tickets.

'€œMany passengers were willing to pay Rp 60,000 (US$5.12) in taxi fares to get to the train station just to travel on board a train with ticket priced at Rp 40,000,'€ Jonan said.

Meanwhile, the death toll resulting from traffic accidents involving homeward bound travelers during the Idul Fitri holiday had decreased from last year, stated Transportation Minister EE Mangindaan.

'€œThe number of traffic accidents seven days before Idul Fitri and until five days after Idul Fitri was about 2,741, down from last year'€™s 3,200 accidents. Meanwhile, about 538 deaths were recorded, less than last year'€™s 686,'€ Mangindaan was quoted as saying by Antara news agency on Tuesday.

Mangindaan emphasized that the Transportation Ministry had been carrying out efforts to reduce the number of accidents during Lebaran.