Idul Ftri exodus has peaked

Idul Ftri exodus has peaked

JAKARTA (JP): Hundreds of thousands of travelers flocked to
the city bus terminals and railway stations yesterday to get
tickets to their hometowns for this Friday's Idul Fitri holiday.

The dispersal of homeward bound travelers, which began early
last week, reached its peak on Saturday and yesterday evening,
causing heavy traffic along the roads and highways heading to
Central and East Java as well as the island of Sumatra.

The weather was generally good except for some points on the
Jakarta-Cikampek and Jagorawi toll-roads, where rain fell briefly
yesterday afternoon.

Police have recorded scores of accidents over the past two
days, some of which have claimed several lives, including an
eight-year-old boy and a bus crew member.

Police said most of the accidents, which took place on the
crowded highway to Bekasi, Cirebon, and Pamanukan, West Java, and
Brebes, Central Java, were due to carelessness.

Although both the north and south routes linking Jakarta to
the eastern part of Java are still crammed with a large number of
vehicles, the Idul Fitri traffic is still flowing thanks to the
24-hour watch of thousands of policemen, military troops and
other transportation ministry personnel.

According to various officials, many motorists have chosen to
use the northern route over the alternative one in the south.

Holiday

Idul Fitri is celebrated by Moslems all over the world to mark
the end of the Ramadhan fasting month. Many Indonesian Moslems
traditionally spend the two-day public holiday in their hometowns
with their families.

This year, the number of homeward bound travelers from the
city is expected to reach four million people, or around 40
percent of Jakarta's total population. The number is almost
double that of last year's record.

To manage the exodus, particularly those leaving Jakarta, the
government usually spend billions of rupiahs to control traffic
and to provide additional buses, trains, planes and vessels.

Several additional toll gates have been opened to avoid heavy
congestion.

On Saturday, for example, a long line of vehicles failed to
get inside the Pulo Gadung bus terminal in East Jakarta, and
thousands of other passengers had to fight to get on the buses.

Also on Saturday some 20,000 passengers departed from the
Senen railway station in Central Jakarta, almost double the
number of departures from the previous day.

Several women from the Kramat Tunggak red-light area in North
Jakarta, for instance, have chosen a more unusual means of
transport and have rented motorcycles to reach West Java.

"It's much more efficient for us. We'll face less traffic
congestion and we can use the bikes later to visit our relatives
in the kampongs," said one of the women.

Still crowded

Yesterday, people were still packing the bus terminals and
railway stations in the city. But all went orderly and
transportation officials did their utmost to help the travelers.

"It's our job to manage the influx of passengers," commented
Abdul Hakim, head of the Pulo Gadung terminal. "Even if the
number is much higher than the previous year, most of the
travelers were handled easily," he added.

To crack down on scalpers, the authorities have asked
passengers to get directly onto buses and to pay for their
tickets later.

"We have no choice," Hakim said, adding that he had told
passengers to immediately report to the authorities if any bus
crew members asked them to pay fares exceeding the list price.
(bsr)