MUDIK LEBARAN - JAKARTA. Based on monitoring by the Transportation Ministry, the seasonal exodus in a number of places -- along toll roads and conventional roads as well as through seaports – took place smoothly on Monday, two days before Idul Fitri.
The ministry’s executive head of the National Idul Fitri Transportation Command, Sigit Irfansyah, said that based on monitoring in a number of places, the traffic along conventional roads had dropped drastically.
He said the ministry had eight main monitoring places on Java, namely one in Banten (Merak); three in West Java (Sadang, Balonggandu and Rancaekek) and four in Central Java (Prupuk, Pejagan, Tegal and Kendal.)
“Based on the monitoring, the traffic declined drastically in all of the places,” Sigit said in Jakarta on Monday as quoted by kompas.com. Based on the monitoring in several places from Sunday night to 8 a.m. on Monday, the traffic declined by 75.09 percent compared to the same period last year.
He attributed the sharp decline in traffic along conventional roads to the completion of the trans-Java toll road, because more people preferred to drive on toll roads because of the shorter driving time.
The traffic along the trans-Java toll road was also smooth, according to reports by the traffic police, which monitors the traffic via CCTV.
Sr. Comr. Bakharuddin Muhammad Syah, the head of the police's "Operation Ketupat”, which regulates traffic and maintains safety during Idul Fitri, said the police had installed 664 cameras all across the country to monitor the main roads.
“Based on the monitoring from 664 CCTV cameras, particularly on Java, the vehicles along the trans-Java moved smoothly,” Bakharuddin said on Monday.
The Transportation Ministry also reported there was also no overcrowding at Merak Seaport in Banten or Bakeuheni Port in Lampung, which people use to cross the Sunda Strait.
