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'Mudik' season in full swing as millions travel home
Public transportation hubs and thoroughfares across the country have been clogged with millions of Indonesians making their journeys back home.
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Homebound travelers walk to buses parked near the National Monument (Monas) in Central Jakarta for the first day of the city administration’s free mudik (exodus) program on April 17. ( Antara/Aprillio Akbar)
W
ith the country’s biggest homecoming mudik (exodus) season in recent memory now in full swing, public transportation hubs and thoroughfares across the country have been clogged with millions of Indonesians making their journeys back home.
Wednesday, the start of a seven day Idul Fitri holiday period, saw the Jakarta-Cikampek toll road, which is the main passageway for cars leaving Jakarta eastward, pummeled by heavy traffic.
West Java Police spokesperson Sr. Comr. Ibrahim Tompo said based on police monitoring on Wednesday noon, there were lines of cars that stretched 60 kilometers.
This was despite the enactment of a one-way toll road policy from the Cikampek toll-road stretching all the way to the Kalikangkung toll gate in Central Java, which has also seen a drastic increase in traffic.
Read also: Mudik one-way arrangement starts on Trans-Java Toll Road
National Police chief Gen. Listyo Sigit Prabowo said the Kalikangkung toll gate had seen close to a three-fold increase in traffic by Tuesday night, as the volume was expected to only pick up close to Idul Fitri.
According to Transportation Ministry estimates, cars are the most popular choice for mudik-goers this year, with around 27 million people preferring to use it to travel back to their hometowns.
