Exceeds Survey! 147.55 Million People Travel During Eid Holiday
Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia - The surge in public movement during the 2026 Eid mudik and return period was recorded as significantly increased. The Ministry of Transportation (Kemenhub) noted that ferry crossings served around 5.52 million passengers during this year’s Eid period. This figure rose 15.32% compared to the previous year, reflecting high travel demand among the public.
The total number of public transport passengers during this year’s Eid Transport period increased by 10.87% from the previous year, from 21.23 million to 23.54 million passengers.
The breakdown by transport mode shows road transport carried 3.89 million passengers, up 11.64% from 3.49 million in 2025; sea transport carried 2.02 million passengers, up 9.86% from 1.84 million in 2025; air transport carried 4.77 million passengers, up 6.97% from 4.47 million in 2025; rail transport carried 7.31 million passengers, up 10.13% from 6.64 million in 2025; and ferry crossings carried 5.52 million passengers, up 15.36% from 4.79 million in 2025.
Up 2.53%
Overall, based on Mobile Positioning Data (MPD), the number of people travelling during the Eid Transport period (13-29 March 2026) reached 147.55 million people, an increase of 2.53% from the survey result of 143.92 million people.
“This year’s Eid Transport operation was a major collective effort, involving intensive cross-sector coordination among ministries/institutions, local governments, transport operators, and all related stakeholders. This collaboration was the key to ensuring the public could undertake mudik and return journeys safely, securely, and smoothly,” said Minister of Transportation Dudy Purwagandhi in his statement on Tuesday (31/3/2026).
On ferry routes, traffic surges occurred on 15 monitored national crossings, including busy routes like Merak-Bakauheni and Ketapang-Gilimanuk. Cumulatively from H-8 to H+8, the number of passengers reached 4.72 million people, up 6.6% from last year. Meanwhile, vehicles crossing totalled 1.21 million units, an annual increase of 8%.
The dynamics intensified after the lifting of logistics vehicle restrictions. These restrictions applied to the Bakauheni-Merak crossing from 23-29 March 2026 and the Ketapang-Gilimanuk crossing from 13-29 March 2026. This situation triggered a surge in heavy vehicles, especially on the Merak-Bakauheni and Ketapang-Gilimanuk routes, with queues reaching several kilometres at times.
“After the restrictions were lifted, there was a significant influx of logistics vehicles entering the ports, particularly on the Merak-Bakauheni and Ketapang-Gilimanuk routes, with queue conditions of 3-10 kilometres. This impacted increased vehicle queues but remained under control through strengthened on-site operational management,” explained ASDP President Director Heru Widodo.
Operators also relied on several measures to maintain smooth traffic flow, from adjusting ship operation patterns based on daily needs to implementing the arrive-unload-depart (TBB) scheme. Additionally, the delay system via buffer zones and ticket digitalisation through Ferizy helped alleviate congestion at ports.
“We optimised the Arrive-Unload-Depart (TBB) pattern, added ship trips and fleets, and controlled vehicle rhythm through buffer zones. These steps were taken to ensure logistics vehicle flow was served well without disrupting passenger flow,” said Heru.
Cumulatively, the realisation of passengers returning to Java from Sumatra from 22 March 2026 to 30 March 2026 at 06.00 WIB (H to H+8) reached 814,821 people, or 99% compared to the total passengers departing from Java to Sumatra during the mudik flow (H-8 to H) of 822,950 people.
Meanwhile, the total vehicles returning from Sumatra to Java in the same period totalled 218,822 units, or 100% compared to the number of vehicles departing during the mudik flow of 219,183 units.