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Many ‘mudik’ travelers have yet to return after last-minute policy changes
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Mudik (exodus) travelers carry their belongings to a bus at Pakupatan Bus Terminal in Serang, Banten, on April 22. (Antara/Asep Fathulrahman)
M
udik (exodus) travelers appear to be heeding the government’s call to stagger their return journeys to limit traffic congestion, as only around half of the vehicles that left Greater Jakarta ahead of Idul Fitri had made the return trip as of Saturday.
The Transportation Ministry reported that based on data compiled by state-owned toll road operator PT Jasa Marga, only 53 percent of the 2.1 million vehicles that left Greater Jakarta before the holiday had returned by Saturday. Similarly, just under 59 percent of the 894,000 people who had crossed from Java to Sumatra via Banten’s Merak Port had returned.
Policymakers previously expected travelers to return primarily on Saturday and Sunday, the last weekend of this year’s Idul Fitri holiday.
“The government has been calling intensely for the public to go home after [Sunday], in order to prevent major traffic congestion,” ministry spokesperson Adita Irawati said on Monday, adding that mudik returns had peaked on Saturday.
That day, the ministry reported 170,000 vehicles traveling on the trans-Java toll road network toward Jakarta – nearly double the 90,000 vehicles recorded on Wednesday, two days after Idul Fitri.
The volume of vehicles caused heavy traffic along the Kalikangkung toll road on Saturday, prompting authorities to change the direction of certain lanes earlier than planned – starting from 7 a.m. – and to apply the policy from kilometer 414 of the highway, outside of Semarang, to the Halim toll gate in East Jakarta.
The modified traffic plan was originally intended to begin at 11 a.m. and be in force from kilometer 188 of the Palimanan toll road – outside of Cirebon, West Java – to kilometer 72 of the Cikampek toll road.
