Vehicle Volume Not Yet 50 Percent of Homecoming Flow

The number of vehicles has increased, but not as many as those leaving Jabodetabek during the homecoming flow.

KOMPAS/AGUS SUSANTO

The traffic flow on the return lane of vehicles is congested on Cikampek Toll Road at Km 59, in Karawang Regency, West Java, on Sunday (14/4/2024) at 11:30 AM.

PURWAKARTA, KOMPAS - On the third day of Eid al-Fitr in 2024, the volume of vehicles entering the Jabodetabek area continues to increase. However, the number of vehicles entering Jabodetabek has not reached 50 percent compared to the volume during the homecoming traffic flow. Traffic engineering systems to alleviate traffic congestion have become more dynamic.

The peak of backflow which is predicted to start on Sunday (14/4/2024) has not yet had a significant impact on traffic on the toll road leading to Jakarta. This can be seen by the traffic engineering system still opening and closing in the morning.

On the Jakarta-Cikampek toll road, Jasa Marga at 07.25 temporarily stopped contraflow engineering (contraflow) which has been in effect since Saturday (13/4/2024) at 15.00. Jasa Marga said that the closure of the contraflow lane from Kilometer (Km) 70 to KM 47 of the Jakarta Cikampek Toll Road was at the discretion of the police.

The traffic engineering was carried out because based on police analysis, the traffic flow towards Jakarta was below the parameters. "Earlier, traffic counting fell below the average engineering parameters," said Head of Operations for the National Police Traffic Corps, Senior Commissioner Eddy Djunaedi, when confirmed from Purwakarta, Sunday afternoon.

This policy only lasted less than six hours. Because, after the contraflow was closed, traffic on the Jakarta-Cikampek toll road slowly congested and led to traffic jams at 12.00.

KOMPAS/ALBERTUS KRISNA

Condition of vehicle flow on the Jakarta Cikampek km 67 toll road towards Jakarta on Sunday (14/04/2024).

Jasa Marga also resumed contraflow at Km 70 to Km 47 at 13.15. Since contraflow took effect, traffic heading to Jakarta has slowly dissipated and returned to normal flow. The busy traffic conditions were monitored smoothly until 18.00.

Traffic engineering on the Jakarta-Cikampek toll road changed again at 20.08. Jasa Marga—based on police discretion—added one contraflow lane from Km 66 to Km 47. With the addition of one lane, the number of contraflow lanes on the Jakarta-Cikampek Toll Road becomes three .

"This addition aims to relieve the traffic congestion caused by vehicles," said Deputy Director of Corporate Secretariat and Legal Division of PT Jasa Marga Transjawa Tol, Ria Marlinda Paallo.

Also read: Vehicle Volume Entering Jabodetabek Increases, Hasn't Reached 50 Percent

Not 50 percent yet

As for after the second day of Eid al-Fitr in 2024, according to data from Jasa Marga, it is known that there were already 714,000 vehicles returning to Jabodetabek. That number is the cumulative traffic number from four toll gates (GT), namely GT Cikupa, GT Ciawi, GT Cikampek Utama, and GT Kalihurip Utama.

The total volume of returning vehicles to Jabodetabek has increased by 36.1 percent compared to normal traffic. According to the prediction of the police, there will be 1.87 million vehicles returning during the period of April 10-18, 2024. As of Saturday, April 13, 2024, the estimated number of returning vehicles has not reached 50 percent of those who left Jabodetabek during the mudik season.

KOMPAS/ALBERTUS KRISNA

Police passed through the dense flow of vehicles on the Jakarta-Cikampek km 72 toll road towards Jakarta on Sunday (14/04/2024).

This data is in line with Kompas 's observations which are based on the SIASATI page of the Ministry of Transportation. This information was accessed on Sunday, (14/4/2024) at 21.00. Based on SIASATI data, it is known that the number of vehicles leaving Jakarta via GT Cikampek Utama from H-7 to H-1 Eid 2024 or April 3-9 is 575,191 units.

Meanwhile, during the post-holiday return flow from H+1 to H+3 or the night of April 10 to 14, the number of vehicles that have passed through the toll gate heading towards Jakarta is only 208,033 units or 36.2 percent. This figure is expected to continue changing as predicted by the Korlantas Polri, on Sunday (14/4/2024) and Monday (15/4/2024), which marks the peak of the 2024 Eid al-Fitr exodus.

Also read: Thousands of Homecomers Arrive Early Morning, Transjakarta Buses Prepared

In Central Java and Yogyakarta, the number of vehicles entering the functional Surakarta-Yogyakarta toll road in Klaten continues to increase.

"The toll gates in Klaten have no queues. Of the three gates that are open, namely Karangnongko, Ngawen, and Ceper, all leading to Colomadu (Karanganyar), they are all flowing smoothly," said Head of Traffic Unit of Klaten Resort Police Ajun Komisaris Riki Fahmi Mubarok on Sunday afternoon.

Also read: Backflow, Users of the Surakarta-Yogyakarta Functional Toll Road Increase

Since Friday (12/4), one-way traffic has been implemented starting from the Klaten area towards Colomadu, Karanganyar. Previously, during the return flow period from 5-11 April, one-way traffic applied in the opposite direction, namely from Colomadu towards Klaten.

The operational toll road during the mudik (mass exodus) only runs from 06:00 to 17:00. After operational hours, vehicles are asked to return to the arterial roads.

Vehicles that are allowed to enter functional roads are only small cars. Maximum speed is only 40 km per hour.

The Southbound lane is jammed

The traffic flow that tends to be smooth on toll roads is inversely proportional to the traffic on non-toll routes. Several arterial road sections in the southern Java route are heavily congested.

Kris Mada, a home-bound traveler who traveled across several regions in Central Java, was trapped in traffic jams at several points. These places are located from Ajibarang Highway in Banyumas to Songgom in Brebes. The length of the traffic jam on that road section, according to the distance shown on Google Maps, reached 62 kilometers.

KOMPAS/KRIS RAZIANTO MADA

The connecting route from Pantura to Pansela, namely Ajibarang in Banyumas to Songgom in Brebes, Central Java, was congested on Sunday (14/2024) due to the Eid Al-Fitr holiday return traffic.

"Furthermore, there is partial traffic congestion from Purwokerto to Kebumen. This is on the southern route. The average length of traffic congestion on the Purwokerto-Kebumen route is about five kilometers," he said.

An employee at a private company in Central Jakarta stated that in general, when he commutes from Brebes to the south or towards Purwokerto, he is stuck in traffic for about six hours. However, under normal circumstances, the travel time in that direction is only about three hours.