Many Homebound Travelers Yet to Depart

KOMPAS/WAWAN H PRABOWO

Travelers heading home after the Lebaran holiday pack all lanes of the toll road near the West Cikarang tollgates in Bekasi, West Java, on Wednesday (20/6/2018). In a reverse flow traffic scheme, the authorities made all lanes available for travelers heading from the Kertasari tollgates in Tegal, Central Java, to Jakarta, covering a distance of 294 kilometers, to reduce congestion.

BEKASI, KOMPAS — The volume of traffic toward Jakarta is expected to remain high over the next few days after tens of thousands of vehicles caused congestion on Tuesday and Wednesday (19-20/6/2018). For a third time, a one-way traffic system was applied over two days.

According to data from PT Lintas Marga Sedaya (LMS), the operator of the Cikopo-Palimanan (Cipali) toll road, 528,957 vehicles are expected to pass the Cipali toll road to get back to Jakarta following the Lebaran break. As of the 6 a.m.-2 p.m. shift on Wednesday, 51 percent of that traffic has passed, which means another 259,188 vehicles have yet to return to the capital on that route.

“The homebound travelers will return on Sunday (24/6) with the end of the Lebaran holidays. The peak of traffic was on Tuesday and Wednesday,” said PT LMS operational general manager Suyitno on Wednesday.

To facilitate the wave of Jakarta-bound traffic, the Cipali operator opened 26 booths at the Palimanan tollgate. In addition to that measure, a one-way traffic system was applied on the Cipali toll road through to Cawang, Jakarta, on Wednesday night. Before the one-way system was applied, the travel time from Cikampek KM 68 to the Cikarang Utama 3 tollgate, a distance of 39.2 kilometers, was about 1 hour 17 minutes. The average speed was 30.5 km per hour.

National Police traffic corps head Insp. Gen. Royke Lumowa said the one-way traffic system was applied under his control based on the volume of traffic from Central Java to Jakarta. “We will make adjustments. If the traffic volume remains high, we will apply [the one-way system] again on the weekend,” he said.

On Wednesday at 5 p.m., PT LMS opened the Palimanan tollgate to Jakarta for the one-way traffic. The traffic heading to Central Java was diverted to other roads.

On the toll road, Jakarta-bound traffic slowed down around the rest areas due to the vehicles entering and exiting the rest areas, such as at KM 164, KM 130 and KM 101 of the Cipali toll road.

At KM 130 B Cipali toward Cikampek, the travel time to pass 14.5 kilometers of dense traffic was 32 minutes, with the average speed reduced to 27 km per hour.

A high traffic volume was also seen at KM 47 to Jakarta, spanning about 1.9 km with a travel time of 5 minutes and average speed of 22.8 km per hour. “That was due to the narrow lanes at KM 49 to KM 46 in the direction of Jakarta,” National Police traffic corps Ketupat post command deputy head Adj. Sr. Comr. M. Arsal Sahban explained.

Anticipating a high traffic volume, a one-way system was also applied from the Palimanan tollgate through to the Cawang tollgate from Tuesday 3 p.m. to Wednesday 3 a.m. Two days before Lebaran, the same segment saw one-way traffic in the opposite direction. “A preliminary assessment shows that one-way traffic is effective enough to reduce traffic. We have also received input from travelers heading to Central Java, who cannot use the toll road [now],” he said.

Until Wednesday 6:30 p.m., traffic on the northern coastal road near Cirebon in West Java was relatively smooth, with traveling speeds of 40-60 km per hour.

Entering Jakarta

In Bekasi, according to data from state-owned company PT Jasa Marga, the number of vehicles exiting at the Cikarang Utama tollgate as of Wednesday 6 a.m.-2 p.m. was 34,656, which is 36 percent more than on normal days.

Wednesday at 4 p.m., the traffic from the Cikarut tollgate to Jakarta was smooth at 60 km per hour. Congestion at KM 47 and KM 28 was due to the vehicles entering and exiting the tollgate.

Traffic from Merak Port, Banten, to the inner-city toll road was relatively smooth until Wednesday 11:10 a.m. Dense traffic was seen around the Tomang tollgate.

PT Marga Mandalasakti, the operator of the Tangerang-Merak toll road, predicted traffic from Sumatra would peak on Saturday and Sunday.

Meanwhile, the return wave of traffic in the southern area of West Java is predicted to last a little longer. After high volumes on Wednesday and Thursday, it is estimated to peak again on Saturday and Sunday.

According to data from the Cileunyi security post, the number of vehicles entering Nagreg, Bandung regency, on Wednesday until 6 p.m. was 45,000. On Tuesday, the post had recorded 115,324 vehicles.

Those numbers are lower than expected. “Perhaps, the travelers returned [to Greater Jakarta] via toll-free roads,” Bandung Police chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Indra Hermawan said.

(KYR/IKI/BOW/PIN/NIK/SEM)