50 Percent Of Vehicles Have Not Returned From Sumatra, ASDP Asked To Anticipate

Minister of Transportation Budi Karya Sumadi (Photo: Doc. Antara)

JAKARTA - About 50 percent of vehicles have not returned from Sumatra to Java via ferry transportation. Therefore, the Ministry of Transportation asked PT ADSP Indonesia Ferry (Persero) to anticipate a backflow spike from Bakauheni Ferry Port to Merak until this weekend.

Minister of Transportation Budi Karya Sumadi monitors the situation of the reverse flow of transport from the Merak Bakauheni route from the air by helicopter. From air monitoring, Budi said the return flow situation in Bakauheni and in Merak was still monitored smoothly.

"It must be remembered that there are people whose homecoming is still long and will only return this weekend. For that we must serve it well and I ask the President Director of ASDP to take care of this. Hopefully there won't be a big spike. Even if that happens, we are ready to anticipate it," he said in an official statement, Friday, April 28.

Budi also appealed to the public to avoid traveling back on Sunday and Monday (April 30 and May 1, 2023). This is to avoid traffic jams that will cross from Sumatra to Java on the peak day of the second backflow.

Furthermore, Budi revealed that a number of anticipatory steps have been prepared to anticipate the surge in backflow in Bakauheni until this weekend. One of them is regulating the flow of vehicles.

For example, Budi said, if Bakauheni Port was already congested, the vehicle would be diverted to Panjang Harbor and vice versa.

"Bakauheni's capacity is very good, can accommodate 39 thousand vehicles, so it will be handled properly if there is a surge in vehicles," he said.

Furthermore, Budi said, there are a number of positive things that are produced in the implementation of this year's Eid homecoming and backflow, both in Merak-Bakauheni and elsewhere. Among them are travelers who cooperate to buy tickets online long ago, the number of motorcycle users has decreased.

"We also see traffic accidents decreasing, and on the Trans Java Toll Road speed increases, and travel time becomes faster. This is a good indicator. I appreciate those who have helped, including media colleagues who participate in socializing online ticket purchases, so that their use has reached more than 90 percent," he said.

Based on data from the Directorate General of Land Transportation, the number of passengers and vehicles that have crossed from Java Island to Sumatra Island on the homecoming flow from D-10 to H Lebaran, namely 920,054 passengers and 213,737 vehicles.

Meanwhile, those who had crossed from Sumatra Island to Java Island on backflow from H2 to D+4 this morning were 463,847 passengers and 104,046 vehicles.