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‘Mudik’ trips pick up as govt trials traffic policies
Some Indonesians have begun departing to their hometowns to spend the Idul Fitri holiday with families and relatives, a tradition known as mudik (exodus) in the Muslim-majority country, while the government has started trials of traffic management policies in anticipation for congestion in the country’s toll roads.
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This aerial picture shows traffic during afternoon rush hour in Jakarta on April 20, 2022. (AFP/Bay ismoyo)
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ome Indonesians have begun departing to their hometowns to spend the Idul Fitri holiday with families and relatives, a tradition known as mudik (exodus) in the Muslim-majority country, while the government has started trials of traffic management policies in anticipation of congestion along the country’s toll roads.
The government, citing the relatively controlled pandemic situation, has allowed people to go on mudik this year. For millions of Muslims in Indonesia, particularly in heavily-populated Java, this year’s Idul Fitri will be the first time that they have been allowed to head home to reunite with families and relatives to celebrate the national holiday since the start of the pandemic.
Transportation Minister Budi Karya Sumadi, who visited Soekarno Hatta International Airport – the country’s busiest airport, in Tangerang, Banten – on Sunday, said the airport had seen the number of passengers departing from the airport more than double over the past few days.
“Previously, the movement of passengers [outbound] from Soekarno Hatta was around 400 passengers per day. It has increased to 900 passengers per day over the past two days,” said Budi on Sunday.
He went on to add that the increase in departures from the airport indicated that some people had heeded the government’s call to make their homebound trip earlier. Budi said a number of passengers told him that they chose to go on mudik earlier to avoid congestion in the days before Idul Fitri, in addition to the more affordable ticket prices compared with the peak mudik period.
Organization of Land Transportation Owners (Organda) secretary-general Ateng Aryono told The Jakarta Post on Monday that the organization had also seen an increase in domestic travel starting on Monday.
“The passengers’ departures are seen to almost all destinations,” said Ateng, adding that he expected more people would be traveling in the coming days as 90 percent of tickets sold by bus and other land travel operators were already booked starting Monday.
