Demul Free West Java Angkot during Nataru, YLKI: High Public Demand during Holidays

Illustration. Angkot at the Bekasi City Central Terminal, Bekasi City, West Java, Wednesday, October 26, 2016. (ANTARA FOTO-Risky Andrianto)

JAKARTA - The Indonesian Consumer Institute Foundation (YLKI) encourages urban transportation in West Java, including Bandung, not to be closed during the Christmas 2025 and New Year 2026 (Nataru) holidays, as decided by Governor Dedi Mulyadi (Demul).

According to YLKI Executive Secretary Rio Priambodo, the policy launched by Dedi Mulyadi is not appropriate, because the long holiday period is a period where people's mobility is at its highest point, so the government should increase services, not stop it.

"We encourage public facilities and public services to continue to run. In fact, they should be improved, especially public transportation during the Christmas season, because there is a lot of public demand because mobility is very high," said Rio when confirmed in Bandung, Tuesday.

Regarding the compensation promised for angkot drivers who were dismissed, according to Rio, it was the government's business.

However, he emphasized that consumer rights, in this case the community who do not use private vehicles for the presence of public transportation, are things that cannot be negotiated.

"If it's a matter of compensation, it's a matter of the government. But we see from the consumer's point of view, don't let public transportation during Christmas be on vacation. As a result, the public cannot use public facilities, even though during long holidays like this, public services should be improved to be better," he said.

Furthermore, YLKI reminded the West Java Provincial Government to think about alternative transportation if this policy is still carried out.

The reason is, it is feared that there will be a service gap that can paralyze the activities of local residents.

"Alternatives must be sought so that public transportation in the community remains present, so that there is no service gap that disrupts citizen mobility," he said.

Previously, the Governor of West Java (Jabar) Dedi Mulyadi stated that he wanted to suspend angkot in Bandung in anticipation of traffic congestion in conjunction with the 2025-2026 New Year's holiday.

This, he continued, considering Bandung City as one of the tourist destinations, which is predicted to be visited by hundreds of thousands of domestic and foreign tourists, with many vehicles entering Bandung, so that various solutions need to be prepared.

The first, he said, is to prepare officers in crowded areas to reduce density. Second, suspend the operation of public transportation in Bandung at times when it is predicted to experience extraordinary density, namely December 31, 2025 and January 1, 2026.

City transportation in Bandung City, which amounts to around 2,500 units, is also asked to take a holiday with compensation to be given to angkot drivers in the amount of Rp. 500 thousand to replace operational funds for two days based on adjustments to the average daily operations of angkot drivers in Bandung between those brought home and deposits.

Meanwhile, the West Java Transportation Office (Dishub Jabar) focuses on monitoring seven vulnerable points of traffic jams on tourist routes and disengages angkot, delman, and becak modes of transportation during the 2025 Christmas and New Year (Nataru) holidays.

For monitoring points, said Dhani, it is focused on seven main points of the route which are predicted to experience a surge in tourists, namely Puncak, Pelabuhan Ratu, Lembang-Ciater, Ciwidey-Pangalengan, Garut, Kuningan, and Pangandaran.

West Java's Dishub also asked the drivers of angkot, delman, and pedicabs with a total of 4,711 drivers to temporarily stop their operations on December 24-25 and December 30-31, 2025, to reduce traffic density.

A total of 4,711 drivers were detailed in Bogor (1,825 angkot), Cianjur (1,416 angkot), Bandung Regency (111 delman), West Bandung Regency (10 delman), Garut Regency (457 delman), Tasikmalaya Regency (28 delman, 229 becak), Kuningan Regency (100 delman), and Cirebon Regency (535 becak).

The drivers affected will receive compensation from the suspension of their operations during the Christmas period 2025 and New Year 2026. The amount of compensation, he continued, is Rp. 200 thousand per day per person.