Idul Ftri exodus has peaked<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Hundreds of thousands of travelers flocked to
\nthe city bus terminals and railway stations yesterday to get
\ntickets to their hometowns for this Friday's Idul Fitri holiday.<\/p>\n
The dispersal of homeward bound travelers, which began early
\nlast week, reached its peak on Saturday and yesterday evening,
\ncausing heavy traffic along the roads and highways heading to
\nCentral and East Java as well as the island of Sumatra.<\/p>\n
The weather was generally good except for some points on the
\nJakarta-Cikampek and Jagorawi toll-roads, where rain fell briefly
\nyesterday afternoon.<\/p>\n
Police have recorded scores of accidents over the past two
\ndays, some of which have claimed several lives, including an
\neight-year-old boy and a bus crew member.<\/p>\n
Police said most of the accidents, which took place on the
\ncrowded highway to Bekasi, Cirebon, and Pamanukan, West Java, and
\nBrebes, Central Java, were due to carelessness.<\/p>\n
Although both the north and south routes linking Jakarta to
\nthe eastern part of Java are still crammed with a large number of
\nvehicles, the Idul Fitri traffic is still flowing thanks to the
\n24-hour watch of thousands of policemen, military troops and
\nother transportation ministry personnel.<\/p>\n
According to various officials, many motorists have chosen to
\nuse the northern route over the alternative one in the south.<\/p>\n
Holiday<\/p>\n
Idul Fitri is celebrated by Moslems all over the world to mark
\nthe end of the Ramadhan fasting month. Many Indonesian Moslems
\ntraditionally spend the two-day public holiday in their hometowns
\nwith their families.<\/p>\n
This year, the number of homeward bound travelers from the
\ncity is expected to reach four million people, or around 40
\npercent of Jakarta's total population. The number is almost
\ndouble that of last year's record.<\/p>\n
To manage the exodus, particularly those leaving Jakarta, the
\ngovernment usually spend billions of rupiahs to control traffic
\nand to provide additional buses, trains, planes and vessels.<\/p>\n
Several additional toll gates have been opened to avoid heavy
\ncongestion.<\/p>\n
On Saturday, for example, a long line of vehicles failed to
\nget inside the Pulo Gadung bus terminal in East Jakarta, and
\nthousands of other passengers had to fight to get on the buses.<\/p>\n
Also on Saturday some 20,000 passengers departed from the
\nSenen railway station in Central Jakarta, almost double the
\nnumber of departures from the previous day.<\/p>\n
Several women from the Kramat Tunggak red-light area in North
\nJakarta, for instance, have chosen a more unusual means of
\ntransport and have rented motorcycles to reach West Java.<\/p>\n
\"It's much more efficient for us. We'll face less traffic
\ncongestion and we can use the bikes later to visit our relatives
\nin the kampongs,\" said one of the women.<\/p>\n
Still crowded<\/p>\n
Yesterday, people were still packing the bus terminals and
\nrailway stations in the city. But all went orderly and
\ntransportation officials did their utmost to help the travelers.<\/p>\n
\"It's our job to manage the influx of passengers,\" commented
\nAbdul Hakim, head of the Pulo Gadung terminal. \"Even if the
\nnumber is much higher than the previous year, most of the
\ntravelers were handled easily,\" he added.<\/p>\n
To crack down on scalpers, the authorities have asked
\npassengers to get directly onto buses and to pay for their
\ntickets later.<\/p>\n
\"We have no choice,\" Hakim said, adding that he had told
\npassengers to immediately report to the authorities if any bus
\ncrew members asked them to pay fares exceeding the list price.
\n(bsr)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/idul-ftri-exodus-has-peaked-1447893297",
"image": ""
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"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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