‘Mudik’ vacationers come back early to avoid macet

JAKARTA. While return traffic is expected to reach its peak this weekend, many vacationers have decided to return to the capital early to avoid severe macet (traffic jams).

Only a few days after the Idul Fitri holiday, during which millions of Jakartans left for their respective hometowns to celebrate the Islamic holiday, the number of travelers returning to the city has started to increase.

Kampung Rambutan bus station in East Jakarta saw more than 30,000 passengers arriving in the city on Tuesday and Wednesday, while as of 2 p.m. Thursday, nearly 6,500 had alighted at the bus station.

At the peak of return traffic during the Idul Fitri holiday season last year, 33,409 people arrived at the bus terminal four days after the first day of Idul Fitri.

State-owned PT KAI recorded more than 10,100 passengers arriving at Gambir Station and almost 30,000 passengers at Senen Station.

Herman, 35, a resident of Grogol, West Jakarta, was among those who chose to cut the time he spent with his extended family short to avoid traffic jams.

“I spent four days with my in-laws in Bandung [West Java] and I decided to return to Jakarta today event though I don’t return to work until Monday because I don’t want to deal with the grueling traffic jams,” he told The Jakarta Post on Thursday.

It was as expected for Herman and his family, as it only took them two-and-a-half hours to get to Jakarta.

Ali, 38, voiced a similar sentiment.

He left Cianjur, West Java, where he and his wife and child spent the holiday, early even though he still had another three days off, “because I don’t want to spend too much time on the road as our baby will suffer too much that way. I wanted to avoid expected traffic jams.”

Some other vacationers still have to attend post-Idul Fitri gatherings before returning to work
on Monday.

“There are several halal bihalal [post-Idul Fitri gathering] events that I have to attend this weekend, so I left Cianjur early,” Dewi Irma, a Bekasi resident, said.

The Jakarta Transportation Agency’s officer in charge of Kampung Rambutan bus station’s inter-province terminal, Yanuarianto, said travelers from cities in West Java dominated the arrival gate three days after Idul Fitri.

“Most passengers had returned to Jakarta from Sukabumi, Bogor, Karawang or Bandung. However, we have not seen a significant increase today as buses from Central Java usually arrive early in the morning when there were severe traffic jams in certain areas,” he said, adding that he expected the number of travelers from Central Java to significantly increase from today.

“The return traffic will peak on Saturday and Sunday,” he said.

Yanuarianto also added that the bus terminal was relatively normal and manageable.

“The traffic in the bus terminal is less busy than last year,” he said.

More than 3.6 million residents of Jakarta, around 36.21 percent of Jakarta’s nearly 10 million population, left the capital for their hometowns to celebrate Idul Fitri holiday. (Sita W Dewi)