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Muted Idul Fitri ahead as 'mudik' travel declines
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Several vehicles pass through the one-way traffic system at the Cikampek Utama Toll Gate in Karawang, West Java, on March 27, 2025. Traffic on the Cikopo-Palimanan toll road remained smooth on the fourth day ahead of Idul Fitri, thanks to the implementation of the one-way traffic scheme, which spans from KM 70 of the Cikampek Toll Road to KM 188 of the Cipali Toll Road. (Antara/Fauzan)
T
he country is likely to see a more reserved Idul Fitri this year as fewer people participate in the mudik (exodus) tradition amid financial hardship, widespread layoffs and President Prabowo Subianto’s sweeping austerity measures.
Transportation Minister Dudy Purwagandhi predicted earlier this week that the peak of mudik travel would occur on Friday, or three days before Idul Fitri, and advised travelers to begin their homecoming journeys early to avoid congestion. The government had previously moved school holidays to an earlier date and implemented a work-from-anywhere (WFA) policy for state workers to help distribute mudik travel more evenly.
State-owned toll road operator PT Jasa Marga said some 955,000 vehicles had been leaving Greater Jakarta from Friday to Wednesday, the majority going eastward to the Trans-Java toll road and Bandung, West Java, while the rest headed westward to Merak and southward to Puncak.
The figure was 1.5 percent higher than the comparable period in last year’s mudik, though only the toll gate to the Trans-Java toll road saw a major spike in vehicles.
As of Wednesday, the Nusantara regional division of Jasa Marga reported a 4 percent increase in traffic across four toll roads in North Sumatra, East Kalimantan and North Sulawesi, with around 7,000 more vehicles on the road than usual.
Read also: Idul Fitri exodus comes early amid WFA policy
Despite the figures, a study by the Transportation Ministry predicts that some 146 million people will travel to their hometowns for this year’s Idul Fitri, a 23 percent drop from last year’s prediction of 193 million people. After last year’s Idul Fitri, the ministry announced that 242 million mudik travelers had been recorded.
