TEMPO.CO, Jakarta-Motorists are advised to anticipate traffic jam over the weekend as the number of homecoming travelers are expected to steeply climb. "Traffic volume are expected to increase and peak between Friday and Sunday," said the Secretary General for the Transport Ministry, Sugihardjo, during an inspection of Cirebon's Harjamukti Terminal on Thursday, June 30, 2016.
Over the weekend, continued Sugihardjo, around 2.47 million privately-owned cars - excluding motorcycles and public transport vehicles - are expected to leave Jakarta's boundaries, toward their destinations across West Java, Central Java, and East Java.
This projection is a significant increase compared to the 2015 homecoming season - when 2.37 million privately-owned vehicles took part in the annual exodus out of the capital.
In 2016, around 5.6 million motorcycles are predicted to travel through Java's Northern Coastal Road (Pantura) - up from the total of 3.7 million motorcycles passed through Pantura during 2015's homecoming season.
Sugihardjo added that the majority of traffic accidents during homecoming seasons involve motorcycles. "So for those who are thinking about using their motorcycles to return to their hometowns, please utilize all available rest areas across Pantura when exhaustion sets, before continuing the journey onwards," he said.
Police have also prepared a number of Police station along trunk routes that are commonly used by motorists to be used as rest areas - complete with facilities that are commonly prepared in other rest areas.
The Transport Ministry are currently conducting roadworthiness checks of all public transport vehicles that will be used to carry passengers during the 2016 homecoming season. During an inspection in Bandung on Wednesday, June 29, 2016, the Director General of Land Transport for the Transport Ministry, Pudji Hartanto Iskandar said that around 11,000 buses out of approximate total of 14,000 buses that will be operating during the Season have been inspected for roadworthiness.
"Our target is to achieve zero accident during the homecoming season - so our Ministry is stepping up ramp checks to ensure the roadworthiness of all fleets," said Iskandar. "This is markedly different from last year - where our Ministry only inspected the roadworthiness of a limited number of samples.
"Checks and certifications are still being carried out, and out of the approximately 11,000 buses that we have inspected, around 90 percent have been certified as roadworthy," continued Iskandar.
According to Iskandar, during the simultaneous inspections that were carried out across 14 provinces, only around 10-15 percent have failed the required ramp checks. "That said, the majority were only temporarily grounded for minor and easily rectifiable problems - such as faulty indicators and windscreen wipers," he said.
"However, if the problems are more serious, for example, malfunctioning handbrakes or faulty speedometers, the bus in question will have to be grounded before it could be certified fit to be deployed," finished Iskandar.
IVANSYAH | AHMAD FIKRI
