Idul Fitri exodus might peak tomorrow
JAKARTA (JP): The number of travelers leaving the city may peak to tomorrow despite earlier predictions the exodus would ease if it peaked yesterday and today.
Only 10 out of the 15 additional bus terminals were operating yesterday while the four main intercity terminals were not too crowded.
Only 15,721 passengers had departed from the Pulo Gadung terminal, East Jakarta yesterday by 2 a.m. compared to at least 40,000 Sunday.
Discounted train tickets have not so far attracted as many travelers as expected, director of the state-run railway firm, Perumka, Soemino Eko Saputro said yesterday.
"Until Feb. 5, four days before Idul Fitri, the total number of passengers was less than that of last year," Soemino said.
On Wednesday Perumka's central information center at Gambir reported that at 7 p.m. the city's six stations were quiet.
One train set to leave the Tanah Abang station for Kutoarjo, Central Java, was canceled because there weren't enough passengers.
The city land transportation agency's 24-hour post recorded that until 8 a.m. yesterday, the number of passengers departing from bus terminals since Jan. 26 was 467,234.
Around three million are expected to leave the city for Idul Fitri celebrations.
"Last year, the number of passengers recorded leaving the city four days before Idul Fitri was 472,360," said Ucep, a transport agency monitoring post official said.
By 2 p.m. yesterday, the Kalideres bus terminal in East Jakarta recorded the highest number of passengers at 31,112. The passengers were leaving for Sumatra.
Minister of Transportation Haryanto Dhanutirto, in an inspection yesterday at Pulo Gadung, repeated calls that passengers should report cases of illegal bus fares.
The report, he said, should be based on evidence. Passengers have said it is useless reporting cases.
On reports of illegal fare hikes, Haryanto said so far no such reports had been filed by passengers.
But some bus operators do raise their fares higher than the 25 percent above the normal prices allowed by the government.
Ahmad, a passenger from Semarang, said he had had to accept a ticketing official's demand to pay Rp 45,000 (US$18.70) for the air-conditioned Limas Express bus to Solo. The officer erased the written charge of Rp 37,000 and wrote a new fare, Rp 45,000.
Another passenger heading for Madura island had to pay Rp 41,000 for the economy class Setia Bakti bus. The permitted fare was Rp 26,000.
Toga S., deputy head of the Pulo Gadung police subprecinct said that during a raid Wednesday evening several bus crews were caught charging passengers on board, after the buses had already left terminals, and before passengers had been informed of the fares. Charging passengers on board is only allowed while buses are in terminals.
The plainclothes officers then reprimanded the bus crew.
Haryanto regretted many travelers didn't know about the other terminals.
However, prospective passengers at Senayan confirmed yesterday buses for Sumatra destinations were not available. (ste/11)