Mobility During This Year’s Mudik Has Only Reached 50 Percent
The annual Idul Fitri holiday mudik (exodus) will peak between Wednesday (19/4/2023) to Thursday. As of Wednesday 11 p.m., mobility has reached only 50 percent.
By
Kompas Team
·4 minutes read
FAKHRI FADLURROHMAN
Thousands of cars crossed Kilometer (Km) 72 of the Cipali Toll Road, Karawang, West Java, Thursday (20/4/2023). The Ministry of Transportation (Kemenhub) predicts that the peak of Lebaran homecoming will occur on April 19 and 20 2023.
JAKARTA, KOMPAS – The annual Idul Fitri holiday mudik (exodus) will peak between Wednesday to Thursday. National Police chief Gen. Listyo Sigit Prabowo said that 40-50 percent of the public will still travel through the Jakarta-Cikampek toll road to the Kalikangkung toll road. Hence, the density in traffic can be managed as best as possible.
“We have considered this because we predicted that 2-3 days [prior to Idul Fitri], there would still be a lot of traffic. I’ve observed that traffic is still quite high 2-3 days [prior to Idul Fitri], and it will decrease a day before [Idul Fitri],” said Listyo during a visit to the Jasa Marga command post at kilometer 70 on the Cikampek Utama tollgate.
Traffic flows along the Cikopo-Palimanan (Cipali) toll road from morning to 10 p.m. was monitored without trouble. Drivers on both lanes of the one-way policy heading east of the trans-Java toll road can go up to a maximum speed of 80 km per hour.
The one-way policy implemented from the Cikampek tollgate at km 69 was extended until midnight by the police. The policy was only supposed to be implemented until 12 p.m. These regulations, however, are subject to change depending on road conditions.
Arterial roads on Jalan Raya Pantura, Kedungwaringin, from Jakarta to Cikampek, were also crowded. Lines of cars and buses at Merak port, which were congested at 5 p.m., gradually eased.
Even though traffic flow was relatively smooth, there were still a number of congested roads. Generally, traffic jams occurred near rest areas.
Mandatory collective leave
Today’s mobility is the highest since [the beginning of] this year’s Idul Fitri travel period.
Transportation Minister Budi Karya Sumadi said the mobility of homebound travelers would peak on Wednesday and Thursday in line with the start of the collective leave period.
“Today’s mobility is the highest since [the beginning of] this year’s Idul Fitri travel period. Although the exact percentage cannot be calculated, the traffic flow today and tomorrow will peak,” said Budi after inspecting mudik services at Pasar Senen station in Central Jakarta on Wednesday (19/4).
ADRYAN YOGA PARAMADWYA
Thousands of homecoming vehicles line up before entering the ferry at Merak Harbor, Cilegon, Banten, Thursday (20/4/2023). As many as 470,495 people have crossed from Java Island to Sumatra Island on D-10 to D-4 Eid 2023.
Budi was accompanied by Listyo, PT Kereta Api Indonesia (KAI) security and safety director Sandry Pasambua, acting Jakarta governor Heru Budi Hartono, Jakarta police chief Insp. Gen. Karyoto and Jayakarta Military Command (Kodim) chief Maj. Gen. Mohamad Hasan.
The police have been simultaneously implementing one-way and contraflow policies since Tuesday (18/4).
The contraflow policy is implemented from km 47 of the Jakarta-Cikampek toll road to the Cikampek Utama tollgate in Karawang, West Java, starting 11 p.m. Meanwhile, the one-way policy is implemented from km 72 of the Cipali toll road to km 41 of the Kalikangkung tollgate, Central Java, from 2:50 p.m. to midnight on Wednesday (19/4).
Points of high density
Based on Kompas’ monitoring, there were points of high density at every rest area, such as km 86 and km 102 of the Cipali toll road. When the Kompas daily team entered the km 102 rest area at around 7 p.m., there was a 100-meter-long line of vehicles heading toward the rest area.
It takes 20 minutes from the entry lane to reach the parking lot of the rest area. Based on the officer’s evaluation, the rest area typically crowds at midday, during iftar, after breaking the fast and during the sahur pre-dawn meal.
Traffic also occurred at several points due to vehicles parked along the side of the toll road. For example, at 5:50 p.m. at km 70, before entering the Cikampek toll gate, there were seven cars parked along the side. The vehicle pulled up to the side before the time to break the fast. The seven cars then continued their journeys after almost an hour.
One of the travelers who stopped on the side of the toll road, Eny Wulandari (45), explained that breaking the fast in the rest area consumed too much time. “It could take 30 minutes if we went to the rest area,” said the traveler heading to Yogyakarta. (Z14/Z02/Z04/Z05/Z06/Z19/VIO/WER/ RTG/JUM/RAM/XTI/NCA/NIK/IKI/ITA)
