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Transport Ministry to provide more free 'mudik' trips
The government has expanded its free mudik transportation program amid the surge in demand from people eager to unite with their families back home over the holiday season.
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Idle Gapuraning Rahayu buses are parked in a row on May 20, 2020 in Pamalayan village, Ciamis, West Java. The government has lifted its 'mudik' (exodus) ban for Idul Fitri 2022, the first time it has done so in two years of the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic. (Antara/Adeng Bustomi)
The Transportation Ministry plans to provide more free mudik (exodus) trips for Idul Fitri 2022, for a total of 21,000 trips.
The ministry said around half of the first 10,500 bus trips it had offered were fully booked almost immediately after registration opened.
“For the second batch, we will have another 10,500 [bus trips],” said Suharto, the ministry’s land transportation director, as quoted by Tempo on Tuesday.
The ministry had allocated a total budget of Rp 20 billion (US$1.39 million) for the free mudik program, he added.
The program has designated destination cities in West and Central Java, including Cirebon and Garut in West Java, and Tegal, Semarang, Demak, Kudus, Boyolali, Solo, Klaten, Wonogiri, Wonosari, Magelang, Wonosobo, Kebumen and Purwokerto in Central Java.
Online registration is provided on the ministry’s dedicated webpage, Mudik Gratis Angkutan Lebaran 2022 (mudikgratishubdat.dephub.go.id).
The government estimates that some 85 million people will travel to their hometowns on mudik this year, with around 14 million travelers departing from Greater Jakarta. It also projected that half of all travel would be made using private vehicles.
This is the first time in two years that the government has lifted the ban on mudik, a tradition that marks the annual Ramadan and Idul Fitri holiday season.
According to circulars issued by the national COVID-19 task force and the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB), mudik travelers who have had their booster dose of a COVID-19 vaccine are not required to present a negative test result. However, fully vaccinated travelers must still present a negative result from a rapid antigen test taken at most 24 hours before departure.
Mudik travelers who have had only one vaccine dose are required to show a negative result from a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test taken a maximum three days before departure.
The task force also requires travelers who cannot be inoculated for health reasons to present a letter issued by a doctor at a state hospital, in addition to a negative PCR test result.
Children below 6 years are exempt from the vaccination requirement but must be accompanied by a fully vaccinated adult. (dre)
