Fewer people traveled during Idul Fitri holiday

Novan Iman Santosa, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The number of Idul Fitri travelers nationwide decreased from 14.6 million in 2001 to 13.7 million or 6.3 percent this year, while the number of holidaymakers taking airplanes and private cars increased.

A report issued on Monday by the Ministry of Transportation's Idul Fitri task force also showed that land transportation remained the primary means of transport for travelers, carrying a total of 12.6 million people, or 92.2 percent of total holiday revelers. Compared to last year's figures, however, this year's showed a decline of 5.79 percent.

The data covers the number of travelers from seven days before Idul Fitri to seven days after the post-fasting celebration.

According to the task force, at least 8.76 million passengers took buses, 1.87 million rode trains and 2.01 million took ferries. Ferry passengers are categorized as those who take public transportation until the crossing point, board a ferry to cross the sea and then pick up their journey on the other side via public transport.

The data also revealed that a total of 732,521 people flew to their hometowns this year, compared to last year's 572,864 passengers. Airplane passengers, however, accounted for only 5.3 percent of the total travelers.

Relatively cheap air tickets, thanks to the increasing number of airline companies, and shorter traveling time may have lured passengers to take airplanes.

Sea transportation experienced the largest drop at 47.72 percent, from 640,135 passengers in 2001 to only 334,649 this year, carrying a mere 2.4 percent of total travelers.

There has been no official explanation as to the decrease in the number of Idul Fitri travelers this year.

Abubakar Goyim, spokesman of state-owned company PT Pelni, attributed the fall to the relatively long interval between Idul Fitri and Christmas.

"There is a span of about two weeks between Idul Fitri and Christmas, so those celebrating the holidays did not depart at the same time," he said Monday.

On the other hand, Barata, spokesman of the ministry's land transportation directorate general, said the data had yet to be evaluated and that such socio-cultural considerations would not be taken into account.

"It turned out to be that there was an increase in people traveling with private cars instead of taking public transportation," he said.

Meanwhile, the fact that five cigarette, instant noodle and jamu (herbal medicine) manufacturing companies had provided chartered buses for their workers and vendors, and this may also have helped reduce the number of bus and train passengers. These companies chartered a total of 437 buses carrying 25,220 people.

The report also showed a 7.29 percent increase in vehicles with Jakarta license plate numbers passing by the Cikampek, Jagorawi and Merak toll roads during the Idul Fitri celebrations, from 1,815,748 last year to 1,948,105 this year.

Barata also said his task force was still giving a one-month period to holidaymakers to file complaints over services provided by bus operators. So far, there have been reports of violations by 115 buses from 65 operators.

The violations included not printing bus fares on tickets (63 companies), overcharging (49 agencies) and failure to deliver services (3 bus operators).

"We will evaluate all reports after the one-month period. Any sanctions will be issued by Director General of Land Transportation Iskandar Abubakar," said Barata.

"Related regional administrations, the Indonesian Consumers Foundation (YLKI) and the Organization of Land Transportation Owners (Organda) will also be involved in the evaluation process," he said.