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Returning holidaymakers cause traffic uptick on Java toll roads as ‘mudik’ season ends
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Heavy traffic is seen on a toll road on April 6, 2024, as people return to their hometowns ahead of Idul Fitri, which marks the end of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, in Semarang, Central Java. (AFP/Devi Rahman)
Holidaymakers have begun to return home after a weeklong Idul Fitri holiday with their families and relatives in their hometowns.
According to data from the Transportation Ministry, some 303,000 cars carrying a total of 1.5 million people and 275,000 cars carrying a total of 1.3 million people entered the Greater Jakarta area through toll roads on Saturday and Friday, respectively.
But with the peak of the mudik (exodus) return traffic expected to happen on Sunday and Monday, authorities have begun tightening traffic measures on Java’s main toll to ease gridlock when vehicles head back to Greater Jakarta after Idul Fitri.
Idul Fitri fell on April 10 and the following day was also a national holiday. But the government has announced a four-day extended holiday, effectively giving people a 10-day holiday from April 6 to Monday.
The National Police’s Traffic Corps suspended morning counterflow lanes on Sunday from kilometer 72 of the Cikopo-Palimanan (Cipali) toll road in West Java to km 47 of the Jakarta-Cikampek toll road because of a lower-than-expected volume of passing vehicles.
An uptick in the traffic volume later in the day, however, prompted authorities to reinstate counterflow lanes.
Read also: Holidaymakers told to return early to avoid congestion
