2024 Eid homecoming flow begins

The 2024 Eid homecoming flow starts this Friday (5/4/2024). As many as 193 million residents moved back to their hometowns.

KOMPAS/HAMZIRWAN HAMID

Entering the second day of the homecoming flow, on Thursday (4/4/2024), vehicle queues began to occur at Merak Port, Banten, intending to cross to Bakauheni Port, Lampung.

JAKARTA, KOMPAS — The flow of going home Lebaran 2024 starts on Friday (5/4/2024). As many as 193.6 million Indonesian citizens who want to return to their hometowns will move via land, sea and air. Indonesia's transportation system will be challenged starting this Friday to see its ability to serve the smooth movement of travelers.

Also read: Heavy Rain Still Has the Potential to Occur at the Peak of Eid Homecoming 2024

Despite the Ministry of Transportation's study released two weeks ago stating that the peak of the homecoming flow is on Monday (8/4/2024), many travelers have decided to depart on Friday after their last workday before the Eid al-Fitr holiday.

Natural challenges

Traffic in a number of large cities towards toll roads is expected to be congested. Moreover, during this year's homecoming, there were a number of challenges. The Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) has issued a warning about bad weather.

KOMPAS/RONY ARIYANTO NUGROHO

The situation of the toll road landslide in Bogor Ciawi Sukabumi (Bocimi) at Km 64, Purwasari Village, Cicurug District, Sukabumi Regency, West Java, occurred on Thursday (4/4/2024). The landslide happened on Wednesday (3/4/2024) at around 8:00 pm.

The rainy season has caused several damages or obstacles on the homecoming route. The Bogor-Ciawi-Sukabumi toll road (Bocimi) in Sukabumi, West Java, for example, has sunk. Half of the road has disappeared, leaving a gaping hole. However, the toll road was only inaugurated by President Joko Widodo a year ago.

Also read: Homecoming Flow Heads to Peak Density

Security, traffic, and infrastructure personnel are busy at the scene to improve the situation. The route that will pass through Bocimi Toll Road is expected to experience delays.

In the coastal area of ​​the north (pantura), precisely in Cikarang, Bekasi Regency, West Java, two days ago, a flood of 50 centimeters occurred due to heavy rain. The pilgrims were also forced to pull over because they did not want their vehicles to be flooded. This incident caused traffic congestion.

Floods in Cikarang have receded. However, reflecting on this experience, it is possible that the same incident will happen again.

The Head of the BMKG Maritime Meteorology Center, Eko Prasetyo, in his presentation at the Presidential Staff Office on Tuesday (2/4/2024), explained that heavy rain will fall in West Java and Central Java. In addition, there is also the potential for floods along the coast of Java Island, the risks of which cannot be ignored.

Also read: Vehicle Volume Increases Ahead of Homecoming, Density in Cipali "Rest Area" Anticipated

"Especially for crossings, be aware of build-ups at ports because there will be strong winds and high waves," he said.

At Merak Port, Banten, as of Thursday (4/4/2024), there was already a traffic jam from the toll road to the crossing.

Deputy for Prevention at the National Disaster Management Agency, Prasinta Dewi, added that there are 114 disaster-prone locations along the homecoming route.

Also read: Movement of Homecomers Begins to Be Seen at Bakauheni Harbor

Traffic engineering

In terms of traffic regulation, the Indonesian National Police (Polri) has implemented an engineering system. Head of the Polri Traffic Corps, Inspector General Aan Suhanan, said that they plan to implement the odd-even system on the Jakarta-Semarang Batang toll road. This system will start from Kilometer (Km) 0 in Jakarta and end at Km 414 in Kalikangkung, Central Java. The odd-even system will be implemented from Friday (5/4/2024) until Monday (8/4/2024).

KOMPAS/P RADITYA MAHENDRA YASA

Police are stationed in front of the payment counter during the visit of the National Police Chief General (Pol) Listyo Sigit Prabowo and the Commander of the Indonesian Armed Forces General Agus Subiyanto at Kalikangkung Toll Gate, Semarang City, Central Java on Wednesday (3/4/2024).

"We calculated that even though there are vehicle restrictions, contraflow and one way, the vehicle volume ratio is still high. "That's why the odd-even system is implemented," he said.

Individuals who violate the odd-even traffic system will be electronically ticketed through the use of electronic traffic law enforcement cameras (ETLE). The ticket will be sent to the address listed on the vehicle registration of the offender after the Lebaran holiday.

Also read: "One Way" System on the Trans-Java Toll Road, Beware of Congestion on the Cirebon Pantura

train stations, one of which is Gambir in Jakarta, are also starting to get busy with travelers. A number of people who use public transportation choose to return home before the peak of the homecoming flow.

KOMPAS/TATANG MULYANA SINAGA

A number of passengers wait for the train departure schedule at Gambir Station, Jakarta, Thursday (4/4/2024) afternoon.

The organizers of free homecoming also did the same thing. They have started off since the beginning of this week. In the free homecoming activity by ship, for example, participants have departed since Monday (1/4/2024). The reason is, those heading to eastern Indonesia need almost a week's travel time to reach their destination.

Also read: Travellers will be detained in the "Rest Area" before approaching Merak Harbor

Kompas, according to tradition, will continue to monitor the homecoming flow situation in order to provide accurate information to readers. One of them is through direct reports which will start on Friday (5/4/2024) at 14.00