Govt Preparing Transportation for Lebaran Travelers

Warta Ekonomi -

WE Online, Jakarta -  In keeping with the practice followed in the past, the government is preparing various modes of transportation for those traveling during the post-fasting Eid ul-Fitr, referred to as Lebaran travelers. These are people traveling to their home towns for the festivities.

As the number of passengers is expected to increase this year, the government is preparing various means of transportation, including air, sea or land.

Public Information and Communications Bureau Chief of the Ministry of Transportation, JA Barata said recently that Transport Minister Ignasius Jonan has set the Lebaran transportation period from June 24 to July 17, 2016 for land, air and train transportation modes. For the sea transportation mode, the Lebaran transportation period will be from June 18 to July 24, 2016.

"The period for the sea transportation service will be longer because transportation through sea also takes much longer," Barata noted.

He said the minister had also ordered the director general in the transportation sector to conduct ramp checks in their respective fields before the start of the transportation season during the Lebaran traveler exodus. He said the transportation ministry will also provide free ride on trains for motorcyclists during the 2016 Lebaran transportation program.

The trains will have a capacity to carry 15,000 motorcycles for free motorist ride, up almost three folds compared to that of last year.

As for the capacity of trucks (for motorcycles) and buses (for passengers), it is still to be decided. The ministry of transportation is also considering scrapping the free-ride usually offered to motorcyclists through the sea transportation mode because it is not effective and is an inefficient method.

"The free-ride for motorcyclists offered through sea transportation mode in the past has now been shifted to trains by increasing the transportation capacity from 10 thousand motorcycles to 15 thousand units," Barata said.

He said the preparations being made in the run-up to the Lebaran transportation season this year are part of Transport Minister Jonans efforts to increase the quality of the transportation services for the people. Priority will be given to safety and security, he said.

Based on the data with the directorate general of land transportation, the number of such travelers will increase across all modes of transportation, except land transportation, this year. The number of ferry passengers is expected to increase by 3.54 percent to 3.7 million passengers from 3.5 million in 2015.

Train transportation mode will see an increase in the number of passengers by 4.63 percent to 4.1 million from 3.9 million during the Lebaran season last year. The number of travelers opting for the sea transportation mode is expected to increase by 2.9 percent to 910,191 from 883,681 last year.

The number of passengers flying to their home towns during the 2016 Eid ul-Fitr festivities is expected to go up by 7.62 percent to 4.6 million from 4.3 million last year.

Director for Multi-Mode Transportation Service of the Land Transportation Directorate General Cucu Mulyana opined that the decrease in the number of public transportation passengers was due to the availability of other means of transportation.

Cucu said this year they would not provide free-ride facility in the sea transportation sector because it did not attract too many Eid ul-Fitr revelers. "It was noticed that Lebaran travelers are not interested in the sea transportation services because it involves a long voyage and the cost is relatively high," he stated.

Directorate General of Land Transportation Pudji Hartanto Iskandar said during the 2016 Lebaran transportation season, his office will provide free travel services to motorcyclists. This will cover a total of 12,000 motorcycles and 24,000 passengers.

For such free-ride services, the directorate general of land transportation has set aside a budget worth Rp20 billion. The quota comprises 8,400 motorcycles with 16,000 passengers for home-bound journey and 3,600 motorcycles with 7,200 passengers during the return journey.

The motorists quota for free-ride service was increased by 275 percent this year, compared to that in 2015 when only 3,200 motorcycles were allowed a free-ride. The free-ride program for motorcyclists this year will serve routes to nine cities in Java, namely Tegal, Kebumen, Purwokerto, Yogyakarta, Solo, Wonogiri, Wonosobo, Magelang and Semarang. The routes for the return flow will take cyclists to three cities of Yogyakarta, Solo and Semarang.

For those headed home, trucks carrying the motorcycles will depart first on July 1, 2016 while buses carrying the motorcycles passengers will depart the following day, July 2, 2016. Vehicles carrying motorcycles will depart from the office of state-owned logistics board, Bulog, in Kelapa Gading, North Jakarta, while buses carrying passengers will depart from Indonesia in Miniature Park (TMII) in East Jakarta.

"For the return journey, motorcycles will leave their destination towns on July 16, 2016 while passengers will leave on July 17, 2016," the director general said.

In the meantime, State-owned railway company PT KAI has forecast the train passengers during the Idul Fitri Islamic Holiday season this year to reach some 5.3 million, or a 5.5 percent increase from 5.1 million in 2015. Some 217,364 seats would be provided daily, compared to 214,048 seats per day during last years Idul Fitri holiday, President Director of PT KAI Edi Sukmoro informed the press.

"This step is taken to meet the spike in demand for modes of transportation for Idul Fitri," he noted. The Idul Fitri railway service will be offered for 22 days from June 26 to July 17, 2016.

The peak of homebound flow will be on July 2, or four days prior to the Idul Fitri, while the inbound flow will peak on July 10, three days after the celebration. (Ant)