Preparing To Face Community Movements In Eid 2023

The condition of Merak Port during Lebaran 2022 which is 3 kilometers long traffic jams from the port to the Merak Toll Gate. (Between/Asep Fathulrahman/foc)

JAKARTA The potential for national movement during the 2023 Eid holiday has increased by 14.6 percent compared to last year. The results of a survey by the Transportation Policy Agency of the Ministry of Transportation on January 28, 2023, to February 18, 2023, stated that 123.8 million people or around 45.8 percent of the total population of Indonesia will travel.

Of these, 106 million people aim to go home, 17.8 million people go on vacation out of town, and the rest are just taking advantage of holidays.

The increase, according to civil engineering teacher Unika Soegijapranata Djoko Setijowarno, occurred due to a number of factors, including improving family finances, joint leave, and no longer implementing the Implementation of Community Activity Restrictions (PPKM).

"The momentum for the Lebaran 2023 holiday and collective leave is quite long, starting from 21-26 April 2023. People who do not celebrate Eid also definitely want to take a walk," said Djoko, who is also a resource person in the Implementing Team for the Analysis of Potential Community Movement Patterns in 2003 of the Transportation Ministry Policy Agency to VOI on March 13, 2023.

When referring to the 2022 data analysis, there are a number of things that must be evaluated to break the density during the Lebaran holiday. For land transportation, toll road traffic engineering as before. It can be done with one-way application, contra flow, opening and closing lanes, lane diversion, or odd-even.

Then, optimize the Southern Cross Java (Pansela) route as an alternative homecoming route. Thus, breaking the density on the North Coast (Pantura) route.

"Why are the community and travelers at the Eid holiday moment not happy through Pansela because they are prone to traffic jams, and the route is winding. Not to mention the safety factor, lack of supporting infrastructure, and damaged road conditions," said Djoko.

Area rest arrangements must also receive serious attention from the government. There needs to be a breakthrough in area rest management by separating between the parking zone and the activity zone.Rest area Resta Pendopo KM 456 Salatiga can be an example.

"Vehicles are not chaotic. What must be paid attention to is full. So that vehicles do not rest on the shoulder of the road, there must be a notification along the road so that motorists can anticipate. If possible, create temporary rest areas outside the toll road which is located near the toll gate. Also increase the portable gas POM in certain areas," he explained.

As for sea transportation, it is necessary to provide ticket booking applications, implement a delay system, and arrange loading and unloading schedules and ship arrivals. It is also necessary to increase vehicle storage capacity, increase the number of ferry boats, permanently implement the buffer zone system to expand the solid dock.

Merak Port must be a concern. Many people and travelers choose to cross in the early hours of the morning to be safe. When they arrived at Lampung it was clear. At night they are afraid because the Lampung route is very vulnerable. The police need these efforts. Thugs, including those in the port area, eradicate everything," said Djoko.

Likewise for air transportation. From the results of the analysis and evaluation, it is also necessary to add a special flight schedule for homecoming and backflow, as well as the implementation of additional flights. That way, airport operating hours also need to be adjusted.

In addition to technical questions, added Djoko, reducing density can also be done by breaking the movement of homecoming. Such as by imposing work from home, accelerating school children's holidays, and accelerating the provision of THR.

"As well as policies that lead to distribution of movements that provide opportunities for homecoming and return can be distributed so that there is no buildup during the Eid holiday," said Djoko.

Referring to the results of the survey, the movement of people during the 2023 Eid holiday began on April 15 until it reached its peak on April 21. It is estimated that 18.7 million people chose the first day of collective leave.

The most destination areas go to the Provinces of Central Java, East Java, West Java, Jabodetabek, and the Special Region of Yogyakarta.

The majority of people choose to use private vehicles. There are 27.32 people using private cars and 25.13 million people using motorbikes.

The rest chose public transportation. The most were 22.77 million buses, 14.45 million people on trains, 6.19 million people on planes, and ships, 1.66 million people.

"In the survey, there are also those who choose car rentals, online motorcycle taxis, and travel cars," said Djoko.

Meanwhile, the backflow occurred from April 23, 2023 to its peak on April 25, 2023.

In Jabodetabek, the potential for community movement at the moment of Eid 2023 also increased by 12.31 percent, from only about 14.3 million people in 2022 to 18.3 million people in 2023 or 54.31 percent of the total population of Jabodetabek which reached 33.8 million people.

Movements began to increase from April 19 to their peak on April 21. The majority chose to leave in the morning at around 07.00-09.59 WIB and after dawn at around 04.00-06.59 WIB.

The most destination is Java Island. A total of 6.2 million people headed to Central Java, 5.6 million people from West Java, 1.8 million people to East Java, 1 million people to the Special Region of Yogyakarta, and 843 thousand people to Banten.

A total of 4.4 million people chose to use private cars, 4.2 million public buses, 3.2 million train people, and 2.3 million people using motorbikes.

Meanwhile, backflow occurred from April 25, 2023 to May 1, 2023.

The safety of travelers, especially those who use motorbikes, must also receive attention. The moment of Eid last year alone, according to PT Jasa Raharja data, there were 4,107 traffic accidents and 568 of them died.

Thus, traffic safety campaigns, especially during the homecoming season, must be even more intensive.

"Socialization must be done early, encourage people to use public transportation, and increase the homecoming program for free," Djoko emphasized.