City readies 6,500 buses for exodus

Bambang Nurbianto and Damar Harsanto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The Jakarta administration has prepared a total of 6,566 buses to anticipate the surge in the number of people leaving the city to celebrate Idul Fitri in their hometowns.

Jakarta Transportation Agency deputy head Udar Pristono said that his agency estimated that at least 2.5 million residents would head for their hometowns.

"As usual, most of the passengers will use buses and trains instead of planes or ships," said Pristono.

Buses and trains are mainly used by those whose hometowns are located on Java and Sumatra, while for those who will leave for other areas outside Java and Sumatra will rely on ships and planes.

Pristono estimated that more than 1,169,000 people would use buses and trains from Oct. 27, or a week before the Idul Fitri holiday on Nov. 3 and Nov. 4, through to Nov. 11, or a week after.

"For those using ships, we started the service on Oct. 19, or two weeks before Idul Fitri and we will continue up to Nov. 19, or two weeks after," he said.

Aside from 6,029 buses belonging to the administration, there will be additional buses, including city buses (320 units) and tourist buses (217 units) from private bus operators and tourist agencies for people visiting their hometowns.

"We have no problem with transportation during the holiday because it happens every year," said the agency's head Nurarchman.

Last year, the Ministry of Transportation prepared over 30,000 buses nationwide for helping people leaving for their hometowns.

Previously, state owned railway company PT KAI in Jakarta, announced that the company had readied 12 additional trains to help people leave the city for their hometowns in West, Central and East Java.

Head of PT KAI's Jakarta operational zone Masduki Achmad estimated there would be 732,478 Jakartans leaving for their hometowns using trains, 2 percent higher than last year's figure of 719,933.

But unfortunately, that majority of train tickets have been sold out and they are believed to be in the hands of scalpers, who are expected to sell them at much higher prices than those set by PT KAI.

Nurachman said the extra buses would be deployed at main bus terminals in the city like Pulogadung in East Jakarta, Kampung Rambutan in East Jakarta, Kalideres in West Jakarta and Lebak Bulus in South Jakarta.

"The majority of bus passengers will depart from Pulogadung for those who will head to Central and East Java and from Kalideres for those who are heading to Sumatra," he added.

He estimated that more people this year would use motorcycles to cut costs to travel to their hometowns.

The ministry had tolerated a 20 percent increase in fares by bus operators during the Idul Fitri season, but most operators ignore the ministry's directive. Last year, fares were hiked by up to 50 percent.