Govt Urged to Improve Holiday Public Transportation

KOMPAS/RADITYA HELABUMI

Car travelers take a break at the KM 62 rest area on the Jakarta-Cikampek toll road on Saturday (8/6/2019). To facilitate the flow of vehicles returning to Jakarta, rest areas were opened as closed depending on how full they were.

JAKARTA, KOMPAS — Up to the third day after Idul Fitri or Lebaran, the trans-Java toll road has continued to see an overwhelming number of holidaymakers in private vehicles while the number of public transportation users is declining. The government is urged to improve public transportation services for Lebaran travels to get more holidaymakers to use them.

Transportation Ministry data show that 12.73 million people used public transportation for Lebaran travels from seven days before Lebaran (May 29) to three days after Lebaran (June 9). This was an 8.5-percent decrease compared to the 13.9 million people who used public transportation in the same period last year.

Of all public transportation modes, airplanes saw the largest decline of passengers: from 3.5 million in the Lebaran holiday season last year to 2.5 million this year.

Land-based public transportation users declined by 13.7 percent from 3 million in 2018 to 2.63 million in 2019.

This condition is most evident in bus terminals. At Kampung Rambutan Terminal, for instance, there were 82,820 passengers from seven days before Lebaran to one day before Lebaran in 2019, lower than 93,400 last year.

The government is urged to improve Lebaran public transportation services. “[Holidaymakers] must be urged to use public transportation. If they continue to use private vehicles and the toll road, traffic jams will always occur,” Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB) transportation expert Sony Sulaksono said on Monday (10/6/2019).

Sony said the government should address several issues to boost public interest in various transportation modes for mudik (exodus). For instance, the government should improve comfort at bus terminals to increase the number of bus passengers, including providing ample parking space for motorcycles at these terminals.

Furthermore, hub terminals in major cities must be integrated with tollgates to improve travel time. Train capacity must also be improved by completing a double-track railway system along Java’s southern route.

Institute of Transportation Studies (Instran) executive director Deddy Herlambang said the government should not only rely on toll roads to ensure smooth traffic during the Lebaran holiday. Toll roads remain prone to traffic jams due to the persistent growth of private vehicle ownership.

Therefore, Deddy said, the government should persuade the public to switch to public transportation.

Vehicles on toll roads

The trans-Java toll road was overwhelmed by private vehicles during the Lebaran holiday season, creating traffic jams at many spots. The most severe traffic jam occurred from midday Sunday (9/6) to early Monday, mainly because of long lines of motorists at rest areas.

On Sunday at 10:30 p.m., it took 4.5 hours to travel from the Cikampek Utama tollgate to Semanggi in Jakarta. The trip normally takes only two hours.

State toll road operator PT Jasa Marga data show that up to 1.2 million vehicles exited Jakarta through Cikampek Utama, Kalihurip Utama, Cikupa and Ciawi tollgates during the mudik period. Between one day after Lebaran and three days after Lebaran, 719,654 vehicles returned to Jakarta.

Transportation Minister Budi Karya Sumadi said the high number of private vehicles contributed to dense traffic on the mudik routes. Next year, the ministry will prioritize public transportation.

“What we can achieve in the next year is the improvement of facilities on buses and trains,” said Budi Karya, adding that public transportation modes saw a higher number of passengers during Lebaran this year.

On Monday afternoon, return travel traffic on mudik routes was smoother. National Traffic Police Corps (Korlantas Polri) chief Insp. Gen. Refdi Andri said return travel peaked on Sunday, four days after Lebaran. Traffic engineering measures, including the one-way traffic control system, would no longer be in place.

“We estimate the return travel to Jakarta to continue over the next five days,” Refdi said in Cikampek.

Separately, Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister Wiranto said he appreciated this year’s mudik management. He said it was better than last year, as was evident with the lower number of traffic accidents.

Based on National Police data, there were 529 accidents from seven days before Lebaran to three days after Lebaran. This was a 65 percent decrease from the 1,491 accidents seen in the same period last year.

(DIV/HRS/FRD/DVD/SKA/AIN/TAM/EDN/NAD/ARN/RTG/DIT/DKA/NCA)