They'€™re back: Passengers arrive at the Pasar Senen railway station in Jakarta on Sunday after spending the Idul Fitri holiday in their hometowns. Given the huge demand for trains, railway operator PT KAI added more trains as well as extending the holiday period to 13 days with special arrangements. (JP/DON)

Traffic and services in Jakarta are set to return to normal on Monday, with most residents having returned from their hometowns after the Idul Fitri holiday.

Students will also return to school on Monday after a long holiday.

The capital'€™s streets and public transportation have been less crowded over the last two weeks as a result of Idul Fitri and the school holidays.

Shafira Gumay, a resident of Condet, East Jakarta, returned to the city on Sunday and was set to start work on Monday. Like many others, Shafira, an employee of a private company on Jl. Sudirman in Central Jakarta, said she had extended her holiday past the collective leave set by the central government ending on July 21.

'€œI returned to my hometown in Palembang, South Sumatra. My holiday ended on July 21, but I took an extra three days'€™ leave until Friday. I start work again on Monday and I expect really heavy traffic,'€ Shafira said on Sunday.

Every year, millions return to their hometowns to spend Idul Fitri with their families in a tradition called mudik, leaving Jakarta abnormally empty.

Millions of vehicles entered the capital as this year'€™s Idul Fitri holiday season ended, with mudik travelers returning to the city from visits to their hometowns.

As many as 4.3 million cars traveled into Jakarta through a number of main highways, according to the latest data from the Jakarta Police. The police had earlier recorded 2.77 million vehicles leaving Jakarta, according to Jakarta Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Mohammad Iqbal

'€œThe figure comes from records of seven major toll roads from July 10 to 24,'€ Iqbal said on Sunday in Central Jakarta. The seven major toll roads, he added, were Cipali, Cikampek, Cipularang, Jagorawi, Purbaleunyi, Cileunyi and Cikarang.

The Jakarta Police recorded 21,313 buses arriving at 11 terminals throughout the city, carrying up to 277,819 passengers, while 235,853 travelers had departed from Jakarta in 18,055 buses, he said.

The capital has also seen hundreds of thousands of travelers arriving by train. According to police data, 251,086 train passengers arrived in Jakarta through six stations, while 375,128 people had left the city by rail.

After peaking on Tuesday, the capital over the weekend welcomed the arrival of the remaining travelers, mostly private employees and students. According to the Transportation Ministry, travelers entering the capital with private vehicles peaked on Saturday, while those using airplanes peaked on Sunday.

'€œTravelers using cars and motorcycles mostly returned to the city on Saturday, giving them Sunday to rest and prepare for work and school on Monday, while those who travel using airplanes prefer to return on Sunday, as their traveling time is no more than one or two hours,'€ explained the head of the Transportation Ministry'€™s mudik monitoring post, Tonny Budiono.

The second inbound peak , Tonny said, had seen fewer private vehicles entering Greater Jakarta than the first round on Tuesday.

'€œPrivate employees and students are more flexible than civil servants. Many [civil servants] returned on Tuesday,'€ he said.

Data from the ministry show that a total of 815,480 private cars and 1.28 million motorcycles entered the capital agglomeration between July 19 and Sunday. (alm/foy)

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