Jakarta's hustle and bustle reigns again

JAKARTA (JP): Jakarta's streets, which were quiet and almost deserted during the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meeting on Tuesday, returned to normal yesterday.

Main streets in the city were again filled with both cars and public transit vehicles taking people to work and school.

Scores of buses, trains and private cars filled with Jakartans returning from their long weekend interlude have entered the city since Tuesday afternoon.

The government declared Monday and Tuesday holidays in Jakarta in a bid to ease the traffic flow during the APEC meeting. The meeting was attended by a number of heads of states and other high-ranking officials and was covered by about 4,000 journalists.

The long weekend prompted many Jakartans to venture to tourist destinations outside the city or to visit relatives in ancestral hometowns.

Head of the traffic control department of the City Land Transportation Control Agency (DLLAJ) Herman Tonglo Langi said yesterday that the traffic flow at the Pulogadung bus terminal in East Jakarta and others throughout the city started increasing on Nov. 11.

"Even though the number of buses transporting travelers substantially increased, the situation was under control," he said, claiming that the situation is gradually returning to normal.

He said that the state-owned bus company, PPD, fully deployed its fleet yesterday. The company also provided 12 additional city buses to transport passengers from bus terminals to their homes.

Many people thronged bus terminals around the city last week, with the number of travelers departing just from Pulogadung terminal reaching a total of 168,384 people in the period between Nov. 12 and 15, Herman said.

Perumka

He said normally the number of inter-city buses operating in the terminal is 700 per day which transports only 20,000 people.

"The number of Jakartans returning through the terminal from Nov. 13 to Nov. 15 reached 141,182," he said.

Suparman, the traffic manager of Kampung Rambutan bus terminal in East Jakarta, said that from Nov. 13 until yesterday afternoon a total of 91,534 people have arrived in the terminal.

"Most came from several cities in West Java, such as Bandung and Tasikmalaya," Suparman told the Post, yesterday, adding that 101,411 people left Jakarta through the terminal from Nov. 12 until 15.

The head of Gambir railway station in Central Jakarta, Hadi Suseno, said that the state-owned train company Perumka has provided additional trains for the Yogyakarta, Semarang (in Central Java) and Bandung (in West Java) routes.

"There are two additional trains from Yogyakarta and Semarang, while the Parahyangan train connecting Bandung with Jakarta departs stations at both ends every hour," Hadi said.

Traffic

According to Head of the City Police Traffic Investigation Unit Lt. Col. Herman S. Sumawiredja, many holiday makers, especially those driving their own cars, arrived back in Jakarta on Tuesday evening when the traffic flow was comparatively light.

Herman told the Post yesterday there had been no significant traffic jams reported as of yesterday afternoon. Many had predicted the streets would be congested with the arrival of thousands of Jakartans returning from out of town for the long weekend.

Herman, who monitored the city traffic every minute over the weekend, said his office deployed no additional personnel in anticipation of the influx of holiday makers arriving at bus terminals or train stations.

"Because we expected most of the holiday makers would have to arrive on Tuesday evening to be able to work the next day," he said.

"Everything has now returned to normal," he said. (bsr/mas/yns)