The government is preparing several measures to ease traffic and improve safety during this year'€™s Idul Fitri festivities, since the number of homeward bound travelers using public transport at the end of Ramadhan is estimated to hit 20 million.

This is a 2 percent increase from last year'€™s figure of 17.4 million, according to the Transportation Ministry.

Djoko Sasono, director general for land transportation at the ministry, said the government would ban large and heavy vehicles from operating during particular times before and after Idul Fitri in an effort to reduce congestion.

'€œWe will exclude several types of vehicles, such as trucks transporting fuel and fresh food materials,'€ Djoko said Friday.

According to him, heavy vehicles are not allowed to operate July 12 to 21 or five days before Idul Fitri and three days after it. Personnel from the National Police and Public Works and Housing Ministry will monitor its implementation.

The government estimated that the homeward bound traveling period would last July 2 to 27 or 15 days ahead of Idul Fitri and nine days after it. It is longer than the 15-day travel period last year.

'€œThe recently launched Cikampek-Palimanan toll road [in West Java], which connects Jakarta with the northern coast of Java [Pantura], is expected to reduce the burden of traffic congestion by 40 percent,'€ Djoko said.

The Pantura road along the northern coast of Java, which is the island'€™s major route connecting capital cities and provinces, is famous for its traffic congestion due to a variety of problems, such as low asphalt quality and crowded traditional markets in some areas.

In addition, Djoko said the number of people traveling with public land transportation was estimated to drop by 5 percent, in line with an increase in the number of people traveling with private cars and motorcycles, which is expected to rise 8.5 percent and 7.7 percent.

'€œThe percentage was a result of our monitoring of six spots in Banten and West Java, such as Merak Port, Cisarua, Curup, Serdang, Ciasem and Ciamis,'€ Djoko said.

The decrease in public land transportation was also caused by the growing use of airplanes and trains as well as chartered buses offered by state and private institutions, he added.

Djoko said the Transportation Ministry also provided buses and trucks to transport people to their home towns.

According to data from the Transportation Ministry, the number of people traveling by train will increase 8.5 percent from 3.72 million last year, following an increasing number of train carriages provided by state-owned train operator PT Kereta Api Indonesia (KAI).

The number of train carriages to serve homeward bound travelers will increase from 1,543 to 1,567 this year, Djoko said.

The data also show that the number of air travelers during the exodus will increase around 8.5 percent from 3.9 million last year, while the number of those traveling by sea will increase 9.5 percent from around 882,000 people.

He added that the ministry would also prepare an additional 1,800 buses, meaning that 44,800 buses would be in operation to serve travelers this year.

As for ferry transportation, Djoko said the three new RoRo (roll on/roll off) ships launched by President Joko '€œJokowi'€ Widodo, which would connect Merak, Banten, and Bakauheni, Lampung, would be an addition to the existing 184 ferries.

In order to smooth sea traffic, Djoko said the ministry had ensured 1,254 ships for people traveling at sea.

At the same occasion, Trade Minister Rachmat Gobel said the government had ensured that supplies of staple foods, such as rice, beef, chili and shallots, would be sufficient for the next one to five months, with some items already in surplus, even though prices of several food items continue increasing due to distortions by traders.

Popular

RI, Australia strengthen partnership on taxing crypto assets

Analysis: Indonesia denies normalization with Israel to enter OECD

Citroen to produce electric cars in Indonesia