Homebound travellers walk to buses parked near the National Monument in Central Jakarta for the first day of the city administration’s free mudik (exodus) programme on April 17. - Antara
JAKARTA (The Jakarta Post/Asia News Network): With the country’s biggest homecoming mudik (exodus) season in recent memory now in full swing, public transportation hubs and thoroughfares across the country have been clogged with millions of Indonesians making their journeys back home.
Wednesday (April 19), the start of a seven-day Idul Fitri holiday period, saw the Jakarta-Cikampek toll road, which is the main passageway for cars leaving Jakarta eastward, pummelled by heavy traffic.
West Java Police spokesperson Sr. Comr. Ibrahim Tompo said based on police monitoring on Wednesday noon, there were lines of cars that stretched 60km. This was despite the enactment of a one-way toll road policy from the Cikampek toll-road stretching all the way to the Kalikangkung toll gate in Central Java, which has also seen a drastic increase in traffic.
National Police chief Gen. Listyo Sigit Prabowo said the Kalikangkung toll gate had seen close to a three-fold increase in traffic by Tuesday night, as the volume was expected to only pick up close to Idul Fitri.
According to Transportation Ministry estimates, cars are the most popular choice for mudik-goers this year, with around 27 million people preferring to use it to travel back to their hometowns.
The police have estimated that the peak of traffic for mudik this year would happen on Wednesday, while the Transportation Ministry estimated that the peak would instead occur on Friday, the eve of Idul Fitri.
With no health restrictions in place, the government expects some 123 million Indonesians to perform mudik this year amid a slight increase in the country’s Covid-19 cases. To this end, President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo said last week that while the caseload uptick was not a cause of concern, the public should still get themselves vaccinated and practise health protocols.
