Transport Authority: Returnees Still Crowding Cirebon North Coast Route Until Thursday

Cirebon (ANTARA) - The Cirebon City Transport Authority in West Java states that the flow of vehicles returning from hometowns to Jakarta, or returnees, continues to crowd the North Coast Route (Pantura) in the area until Thursday (26/3) afternoon. Head of the Control and Operations Section of the Cirebon City Transport Authority, Yeye Mulyana, in Cirebon on Thursday, said that the vehicle flow passing through the route remains quite high, even though some returnees have already returned to their home areas. He mentioned that until 14:30 WIB, there were 50,935 vehicles passing through the Cirebon Pantura route towards Jakarta, dominated by 39,450 motorcycles. His team has recorded the overall vehicle flow that has passed so far, reaching 300,510 units. According to him, the number of returnees who have already returned is estimated at around 35% of the total reverse flow movement this year. “Based on the available data, around 35% have returned. That means there are still about 65% who are likely to return in the next few days,” he said. He predicts that an increase in vehicle flow is still possible starting from Friday until the end of the weekend. “The prediction going forward might see an increase from next Friday, and then Saturday and Sunday could still be busy,” he stated. Yeye explained that the traffic conditions on the Cirebon City Pantura route up to now are still monitored as controlled, although the vehicle volume is relatively high. He said that they have not yet implemented additional traffic engineering because the vehicle flow can still be managed, with traffic light adjustments or traffic signal devices (APIL). In addition, he conveyed that during this year’s Eid return and homecoming season, there are no road closures on several sections that were usually applied in previous years. This condition, he said, actually provides convenience for the local community to continue their activities, including shopping and daily routines. He assessed that this year’s homecoming and return flow is more spread out in time, thus not causing excessively high congestion at one time. “The public’s more gradual travel pattern has also helped the smoothness of traffic on the Cirebon City Pantura route,” he said.