Crossing Passenger Density During Eid Homecoming

If the problem continues to recur, road and crossing capacity will not be adequate.

KOMPAS/SUCIPTO

Cars queue to board the ship at the Merak Port Executive Pier, Cilegon, Banten, Sunday (7/4/2024).

Wednesday (24/4/2024) is the commemoration of National Transportation Day. This year the commemoration takes place only two weeks after the D-Day of Eid. The commemoration is a moment to evaluate the desires of the people who use all modes of transportation to return home to celebrate Eid 2024, including ferries which are the mainstay of crossings Inter-island.

Although improvements have been consistently made over time, the accumulation of vehicles at the port remains an issue that continues to be highlighted. Traffic congestion is also prolonged.

In Eid 2024, PT Angkutan Sungai, Danau and Pesembaringan Indonesia Ferry (Persero) or ASDP, which oversees eight crossings, operates 159 vessels. This year's Eid transportation from H-7 to H+7 will occur on April 3-18 2024.

The total number of passengers at ASDP during that time reached 4.14 million people, which is a 3 percent increase compared to last year, which was 4 million people. The increasing number of passengers is in line with the increasing number of vehicles.

The number of two-wheeled vehicles has increased up to 16 percent from 370,525 units during the 2023 Eid al-Fitr holiday to 429,564 units this year. Meanwhile, the number of four-wheeled vehicles reached 475,379 units, which is an increase of 1 percent compared to last year's 470,069 units. In total, the number of all vehicles has reached 1 million units, an increase of 9 percent from last year.

Also read: Cikampek Toll Road "Dark" Travel Accident Reveals Land Transportation Flaws

"Although it generally ran smoothly and was under control, there were some notes and evaluations from ASDP ferry services during this year's Lebaran transportation period. This was mainly due to a significant increase in movement," said Corporate Secretary of ASDP Shelvy Arifin when contacted on Tuesday (23/4/2024).

KOMPAS/SUCIPTO

Corporate Secretary of PT ASDP Indonesia Ferry (Persero), Shelvy Arifin, gave a statement at the Executive Dock of Merak Port, Banten, on Saturday, April 6th, 2024.

Although in general the service is running well, the long traffic jam that occurs towards Merak Port in Banten during the homecoming flow is a particular note. The increase in passenger numbers is not accompanied by adequate port capacity. As a result, there was a long traffic jam at the peak of the homecoming flow at Merak Port on Sunday (7/4/2024).

"The implementation of Eid transport in 2024 as a whole is quite good, it's just that traffic jams are more crowded than last year, which is unexpected, especially at crossings," said Chairman of the Land Transport Organization (Organda) DPP for People's Transport, Kurnia Lesani. Adnan when contacted from Jakarta, Tuesday (23/4/2024).

Also read: Tickets at Merak Port are sold out, available again on April 9 2024

A simultaneous surge of the community's movements occurred due to Eid al-Fitr falling in the middle of the week. The Eid al-Fitr holiday started from the week before the eve until the week after. People tend to return to their hometowns on Friday (April 5, 2024), resulting in explosions on the roads and crossings from Friday to Sunday, or April 5-7, 2024, starting from five days before the eve until three days before Eid al-Fitr.

"Port capacity is limited so what must be done is to control vehicle movements. "For crossing ticketing, there are still many interests in the field that are not well mapped," said Sani.

KOMPAS/SUCIPTO

Private cars queue at the Executive Pier of Merak Harbor, Banten, Saturday (6/4/2024).

Based on the Kompas report, the spill of vehicles towards Merak Harbor prompted the police to implement a delaying system along the route. This has been done since there was an increase in the number of vehicles on Friday. However, at its peak on Sunday, the delay system resulted in traffic jams of up to tens of kilometers.

As a result, the public's travel is hindered by dozens of hours. The journey from South Tangerang to Merak, which usually takes two hours, including boarding a ship, was delayed significantly on that Sunday. Travelers had to wait for 14 hours to cross from Java Island to Sumatra Island on the same route. They were stuck in a queue to enter the ship (Kompas.id, 6/4/2024).

ASDP reported that on the H-3 of Lebaran or peak of homecoming traffic, the number of passengers without tickets or arriving on the wrong day at the Merak Port reached 32 percent or around 19,700 vehicles. Most passengers have tickets for departure one or two days later or on H-2 and H-1, after they ran out of tickets on Sunday. However, they still insist on coming on Sunday in the hope of being transported on that day.

On that Sunday, on the same route, travelers had to wait for 14 hours to cross from Java Island to Sumatra Island.

On the contrary, on H+3 of Eid al-Fitr or the peak of the return flow, there were only 1.8 percent of passengers or 1,800 people without tickets heading to Bakauheni Port in Lampung, Sumatra to cross to Merak Port on Java Island.

Passengers have minimal options

The implementation of a delaying system through a buffer zone is included in the domain of the police. Shelvy believes that the implementation of this scheme should be appreciated because it is able to balance port capacity and incoming vehicles.

However, Sani believes that the delaying system scheme is only a temporary solution when accumulation occurs. This effort only prevents accumulation from occurring at the pier.

KOMPAS/ADRYAN YOGA PARAMADWYA

Officers check the tickets of passengers who will enter the ferry bound for Merak Harbor at Bakauheni Harbor, Lampung, Saturday (13/4/2024).

Secretary General of the Indonesian Transportation Society, Haris Muhammadun, stated that the ticket booking application, Ferizy, owned by ASDP should have more features, such as passengers being able to choose their own ship, seat number, and the parking slot location for their vehicle.

He said that these options can provide certainty for consumers. Until now, these facilities have not been available, resulting in differences in ship capacity and dock capacity.

Also read: ”Delaying System” Implemented, Tangsel-Merak 14 Hours

In addition, Haris also regretted the unused Bojonegara Port in Banten. Despite the fact that there are a number of ships that could participate in reducing vehicle congestion at Merak and Ciwandan Ports in Banten if involved.

”There is Bojonegara with ferry transportwhich does not have to be under ASDP, but can also use larger ship transport. "The flow can be split there," said Haris, who is also Chairman of the Jakarta City Transportation Council.

KOMPAS/ADRYAN YOGA PARAMADWYA

Homecomers rest on a ferry to Merak Harbor, Banten, Sunday (14/4/2024).

Responding to this issue, Shelvy believes that this proposal is not yet feasible to be implemented currently. This is because each ship has different specifications.

Ships that operate are different from other modes of transportation, such as airplanes. Ships have unique characteristics, while airplanes have the same Boeing or Airbus type and specifications worldwide.

"If it's a ferry, each ship has different specifications. So, it's not possible yet to provide detailed options for passengers. The types of ships that can dock at the pier are also different. Some can dock at all piers, while some can only dock at a few piers," said Shelvy.

Implement work flexibility

The accumulation of vehicles at the port occurs due to the simultaneous movement of the community. This can be prevented if the government is more responsive in implementing policies before the congestion occurs, learning from past events.

Sani hopes that stakeholders can enforce holiday breaks far before and after the H-day. China implemented this policy during the Chinese New Year holiday so that people's movements are not concentrated on a specific day or date. If the problem continues to repeat, the capacity of roads and crossings will not be sufficient, especially since the Indonesian government has not limited the growth of vehicles.

"The government must sit together to determine when to start and until when the national holidays are, so that the community does not flock to national holiday 3 days before and after receiving holiday allowance. The shelter is only a preventive and field discretion," said Sani, who is also the Chairman of the Young Indonesian Bus Entrepreneur Association.

Haris said the same thing. The government should study trends in people's movements during major holidays from previous years.

"The government should be able to implement work flexibility from home (WFH) or from anywhere (WFA) three days before H-7 and three days after H+7," he said.

Taking cues from last year's post-Eid al-Fitr traffic, the Coordinating Ministry for Human Development and Culture (Kemenko PMK) has implemented Work From Home (WFH) for civil servants on April 16-17, 2024 or H+6 and H+7 of Eid al-Fitr.

"The Coordinating Ministry of Human Development and Culture has implemented work from home (WFH) after experiencing congestion everywhere. The regulation should have been officially announced beforehand so that people can prepare for their return home. The government always communicates too late, so people don't have a plan," said Haris.

However, if regulations can be better prepared, the community can have a planned departure and return time. Travel patterns can be arranged with enough space and time so that the movement of hundreds of millions of people can be allocated properly in order to reduce peak loads.

Ferry boats are still a favorite mode of transportation for the community to cross between islands. Improvements are continuously being made, but traffic congestion due to vehicle density at the port remains a task that needs to be resolved.

Also read: At the peak of the homecoming flow, Panjang Harbor becomes an alternative crossing route