Flexible Approach Applied to Toll Road Traffic

The one-way traffic system will be applied to toll roads during the post-Lebaran return travel period on a situational basis. Motorists headed eastbound out of Jakarta are asked to take regular or arterial roads.

KOMPAS/RADITYA HELABUMI

Vehicles crowd the Jakarta Cikampek Toll Road at the Cikampek Utama Toll Gate, Karawang, West Java, Friday (6/5/2022). The return flow of vehicles from the east to Jakarta has continued to increase since the morning.

JAKARTA, KOMPAS — The one-way traffic system will be applied to toll roads during the arus balik (post-Lebaran return travel) period on situational basis. The public has been asked to actively monitor information on the one-way traffic system and traffic conditions to avoid congestion.

Motorists departing Jakarta on eastbound routes have been asked to take regular or arterial roads. Various alternative routes should also be utilized.

Starting at 2 p.m. on Friday (6/5/2022) for example, the police implemented the one-way traffic system from kilometer marker (KM) 414 of the Kalikangkung Tollgate in Semarang, Central Java, to KM 47 of the Jakarta-Cikampek Toll Road. At 3 p.m., however, the one-way traffic system was extended to start from KM 428 of Semarang Toll Road Sections A, B, C.

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National Police chief Gen. Listyo Sigit Prabowo said on Friday in Jakarta that the one-way traffic system was being implemented because the number of vehicles heading to Jakarta was growing, as was the traffic density. He said that as of Friday evening, the volume of traffic on Jakarta-bound toll roads had reached more than 3,700 vehicles per hour.

"We continue to monitor current developments on arus balik," said Listyo.

National Police Traffic Corps head Insp. Gen. Firman Shantyabudi said that although the police and toll road operators projected vehicular volume, the conditions on the ground were very dynamic. Police were continuing to monitor traffic developments from hour to hour.

Firman added that the one-way traffic system would be implemented in a flexible manner, depending on the traffic volume. The one-way traffic system could be extended when the number of vehicles increased, and vice versa. "It's not that we want to confuse the public, but the situation on the ground can change," he said.

KOMPAS/RADITYA HELABUMI

Vehicles crowd the Jakarta Cikampek Toll Road at the Cikampek Utama Toll Gate, Karawang, West Java, Friday (6/5/2022).

Firman also asked for the cooperation of eastbound motorists departing Jakarta in taking regular or arterial roads, because they would not be able to take the toll road when the westbound one-way traffic system was in place from Semarang to Jakarta.

Car users heading east were also advised to travel at night to avoid congestion due to high public mobility in every city. "You don't have to [queue] at the tollgate, because there is no certainty [about the schedule of the one-way traffic system]. We have to keep abreast of the dynamics in the traffic,” said Firman.

Bakauheni crossing

Meanwhile, the number of passengers and vehicles crossing from Sumatra Island to Java Island via Bakauheni Port, Lampung, has been increasing. A number of travelers have been returning to Java early to avoid the peak of the arus balik, which is predicted to happen on Sunday (8/5).

Corporate secretary Shelvy Arifin of state-owned ferry operator PT ASDP Indonesia Ferry said that 111,214 passengers had crossed from Bakauheni Port to Merak Port, Banten, between 8 a.m. on Thursday (5/5) and 8 a.m. on Friday (6/5). Meanwhile, a total of 24,720 vehicles had made the crossing during the same period, consisting of 8,136 motorcycles, 15,411 cars, 369 buses and 804 trucks.

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"Until D+3 [Friday], the condition of vehicular traffic entering Bakauheni Port was busy. We estimate that arus balik will be distributed over this weekend from Friday to Sunday,” said Shelvy.

Sultan Thaha Syaifuddin Airport in Jambi also started seeing passengers taking their return journeys.

Sultan Thaha airport executive general manager Siswanto Singodimedjo said that as of Friday, the airport had recorded 100 percent aircraft seat occupancy rate, or 4,000 passengers. The figure was a drastic increase from the previous day’s rate of 2,833 passengers.

AGUIDO ADRI

Thousands of vehicles await the arrival of the ship at Pier 3 of Bakauheni Port, Lampung, Friday (6/5/2022).

At Dortheys Hiyo Eluay International Airport in Sentani, Jayapura regency, Papua, passenger arrivals have continued to increase. Returning air travelers over the last three days totaled 6,257 people.

Hiyo Eluay airport stakeholder relations manager Surya Eka said arus balik passengers had been noticeable since 4 May 2022, and estimated that arus balik would peak on Sunday (8/5).

“It is hoped that pemudik [mudik (exodus) travelers] will be able to make their return trips earlier. The goal is to help distribute the movement of passengers during the arus balik period," he said.

Arus balik has also begun at Banjarmasin Port, South Kalimantan. On Friday, the KM Dharma Rucitra 1 from Surabaya arrived in Banjarmasin at 100 percent passenger capacity, while many people were ready to depart from Banjarmasin to Surabaya by sea.

On the first day of this arus balik service, our ship was fully loaded with 700 passengers, 33 motorcycles and 80 small vehicles [minibuses].

Banjarmasin branch manager Anton Wahyudi of PT Dharma Lautan Utama (DLU) said the KM Dharma Rucitra 1 was serving the Surabaya-Banjarmasin route during the Idul Fitri 2022 arus balik period.

"On the first day of this arus balik service, our ship was fully loaded with 700 passengers, 33 motorcycles and 80 small vehicles [minibuses]," he said.

Anton said the ship was also fully booked for its route from Banjarmasin to Surabaya. The number of sea passengers traveling from Surabaya and Banjarmasin was expected to continue to increase until Monday (9/5).

Meanwhile, South Sulawesi Governor Andi Sudirman Sulaiman called on local freight services to limit their trucks at the peak of arus mudik, which was projected to occur on Saturday (7/5) and Sunday (8/5), to anticipate high traffic density during the period. (NAD/JOL/GIO/XTI/ ITA/FLO/JUM/REN)

This article was translated by Kurniawan Siswo.