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Mudik one-way arrangement ends on trans-Java toll road
State-owned toll road operator Jasa Marga ends midnight Thursday the one-way traffic system from Cikampek in West Java to Kalikangkung in Central Java on the trans-Java toll road.
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This aerial photo shows travelers crowd the access route out of Jakarta, in Cikarang, Bekasi, on April 19, as they head out to their hometowns to celebrate Idul Fitri with their families. (AFP/Bay Ismoyo)
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span lang="IN">State-owned toll road operator Jasa Marga ended midnight Thursday the one-way traffic system from Cikampek in West Java to Kalikangkung in Central Java on the trans-Java toll road.
The toll road stretch had been used as the main passage for people leaving Jakarta eastward to Central Java, Yogyakarta and East Java in the past few days.
Lisye Octaviana, Jasa Marga spokesperson, said that the transition from one-way to normal arrangement took two hours.
“Normal traffic returned on Friday 2 a.m.,” Lisye said in a statement as quoted by Tempo.co.
During the one-way period from Tuesday to Friday, Jasa Marga recorded 9,439 vehicles passing every hour at the Cikampek Utama toll gate and 4,516 vehicles per hour at the Kalikangkung toll gate.
Wednesday, the start of a seven-day Idul Fitri holiday period, saw the Jakarta-Cikampek toll road pummeled by heavy traffic. West Java Police reported there were lines of cars stretching 60 kilometers.
According to Transportation Ministry estimates, cars are the most popular choice for mudik-goers this year, with around 27 million people preferring to use them to travel back to their hometowns.
The police estimated that the peak of traffic for mudik this year had happened on Wednesday, while the Transportation Ministry estimated that the peak would instead occur on Friday.
The government has declared that Idul Fitri falls on Saturday. Muhammadiyah, the second largest Muslim organization, is celebrating the end of Ramadan from Friday.
With no health restrictions in place, the government expects some 123 million Indonesians to perform mudik this year amid a slight increase in the country’s COVID-19 cases.
Preparations have been made to handle the counter-mudik flow, which will see millions of people heading back to the country’s metropolitan areas.
According to the Transportation Ministry, the peak of the counter flow will happen on April 25, the last day of the collective mandatory leave, which is expected to see 17.7 million people on the move.
Jasa Marga estimates that 176,000 cars will pass through the Jakarta-Cikampek toll road on their way back to Jakarta on April 25.
To help alleviate traffic, authorities are hoping to stagger the return to Jakarta by enacting an odd-even policy and a one-way traffic policy on the trans-Java toll road from Kalikangkung to Cikampek from April 24 to 26, as well as from April 29 until May 1, the weekend following Idul Fitri. (dre)
