Homeward-bound vehicles begin to clog Merak Port during early Sunday morning

Cilegon — The Eid holiday exodus at Merak Port in Cilegon City, Banten, began showing significant congestion escalation during the early Sunday morning hours.

Thousands of private four-wheeled vehicles and coach services were seen beginning to crowd parking bays at each dock, both executive and regular terminals, in preparation for crossing to Sumatra Island.

Siti Aminah, 34, a homeward-bound traveller from Karawang, said in Cilegon on Sunday that she deliberately departed earlier to avoid peak exodus traffic.

“I brought food and clothing gifts for my parents. Although the congestion at Cikupa was fairly tiring, the important thing is to reach Pesisir Barat safely,” Siti said.

Observations at the location at 1.30 AM showed vehicle queues beginning to snake from the port entrance to the waiting area for boarding the ferry (gangway).

This situation indicated that the wave of travellers choosing to travel during night-time hours had begun to increase drastically compared to previous days.

The rise in vehicle volume was dominated by registration plates from outside Banten, such as Jakarta (B), Bandung (D), and Karawang (T). The large number of four-wheeled vehicles arriving simultaneously required field officers to work extra hard to regulate the vehicle flow to prevent congestion that could block main road access.

An interesting sight appeared in the queue of vehicles, where car roofs were laden with stacked baggage. In addition to suitcases and large bags, bicycles and various parcels of gifts were also visible, which travellers brought as souvenirs for families in their hometowns.

Port authorities continue to urge four-wheeled vehicle travellers to obtain electronic tickets (e-ticket) before arriving at the port area. This measure is expected to minimise waiting times at the entrance gate and expedite the crossing flow amid the upward trend in traveller volumes predicted to continue rising towards the peak exodus period.