Transportation authorities will take extra measures to ensure the safety and the comfort of millions of homebound passengers during the Idul Fitri holidays.

Not only will authorities check the roadworthiness of public buses, they will also conduct drug tests on drivers to ensure they are fit to drive.

“We will ensure the drivers have not consumed drugs. That way we will ensure the safety and ease of the homebound passengers,” said Bambang Hermanto, head of the Bandar Raya Payung Sekaki (BRPS) bus station in Pekanbaru, Thursday.

He said drivers would be obliged to take a urine test seven days before and after Idul Fitri that will fall on July 6.

Bambang said his office would work with the National Narcotics Agency (BNN) in the province and in Pekanbaru City.

 “All bus drivers must have their urine tested. This is important, so they are obliged to cooperate,” he said.

In addition, bus station staff will also have their urine tested, to ensure they are clear-headed when monitoring the movement of buses.

The authorities also plan to check the roadworthiness of public transport to ensure the safety of all — passengers, bus crew members and the public.

Riau province land transportation organization chairman Muhammad Nasir said that over 2,280 buses had been prepared to serve homebound travelers from Pekanbaru this year.

Transportation office head Rahmat Rahim predicted the number of air passengers from Sultan Syarif Kasim Airport would increase by 13.7 percent this year to 126,600 people.

An increase in the number of passengers was also estimated in Yogyakarta with the provincial transportation office preparing over 4,300 inter-city buses and 800 tourist buses to transport homebound travelers.

Yogyakarta’s land transportation head Harry Agus Triono said the number of buses being prepared this year was higher compared with last year, when only 1,000 buses were prepared. The buses will mostly run to Jakarta and other cities in Central Java and West Java, as well as Sumatra.

The local land transport office has estimated the number of homebound passengers using public buses would be slightly below 1 million, a decrease from 2015 when the number reached over one million. The decrease was attributed to people switching from buses to trains or airplanes.

Authorities in Surabaya, East Java, estimate a 15 percent increase in the number of air passengers from regular days at the Juanda International Airport.

“We estimate the number of air passengers will hit 62,000 during the Idul Fitri holidays,” East Java transportation and highway traffic head Wahid Wahyudi said on Thursday.

To ease the journeys of air passengers, the local administration has conducted repair works on several roads heading to the airport. The administration will also run shuttle buses connecting the airport to various locations in the city center.

“The increase in the number of air passengers is a reflection of improving economic conditions. People are opting for air tickets, although they are more expensive than bus and train tickets,” he added.

The Adi Sumarmo International Airport in Surakarta, Central Java, is preparing for extra flights to accommodate the increase in the number of air passengers to and from the city.

The Surakarta branch of Garuda Indonesia said the company was preparing larger airplanes for the Idul Fitri period.

“We are preparing Airbus300s with 256 seats, including 42 business class seats and 214 economy class seats,” said general manager Mochamad Firman.

Adi Sumarmo airport general manager Abdullah Usman said his office had revamped airport facilities including toilets and mushola (prayer rooms) to accommodate air passengers during the Idul Fitri holidays.

Indra Harsaputra and Ganug Nugroho Adi contributed to this story.

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