Congestion at Merak Toll Exit, Banten during the peak of the Lebaran homecoming flow (Source: Antara Foto/Rivan Awal Lingga) 

ITS Campus, ITS News – In recent years, the movement of people tends to increase when entering the Lebaran homecoming period. In the 2024 Eid period, the Ministry of Transportation of the Republic of Indonesia estimates that the number of people going home will reach 193.6 million, an increase of 13.7% from the previous year. 

Lecturer at the Department of Urban and Regional Planning (PWK) at Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember (ITS), Anoraga Jatayu ST MSi, said that the surge in travelers this year is still the result of the relaxation of social restrictions on the COVID-19 pandemic since 2022. “On the one hand, we must pay more attention to the needs of the community for movement that was restrained,” said the man who is familiarly called Aga. 

According to Aga, the homecoming momentum this time is again accompanied by problems that occur from year to year, namely congestion and infrastructure readiness. The increase in road capacity that is not proportional to the surge in road users causes congestion at several vulnerable points, for example, the intense congestion that occurs at Merak Port, Banten. Long queues of vehicles reached ten kilometers (km) to cross the island.

The government has made several efforts to overcome the congestion that occurs by optimizing the capacity of existing infrastructure through various adaptations. The man from Madiun said the adaptations made in the form of traffic engineering such as one-way, contraflow, and even odd policies have been enforced at crucial points of congestion. “Traffic adaptation is commonly done at a momentum like this,” added Aga. 

2024 homecoming flow in figures released by the Ministry of Transportation (Source: CNN Indonesia) 

Furthermore, the one-way policy is enforced by diverting all road sections to overcome the flow of vehicles that accumulate in one direction.  Unlike the one-way, the contraflow policy only diverts part of the traffic flow so that it can move in the opposite direction to what is usually permitted. Meanwhile, even-odd is applied to help people choose their homecoming time based on vehicle plate numbers.

In addition to analyzing important points for policy implementation, the lecturer from the Transportation and Spatial Analysis Laboratory of PWK ITS emphasized the importance of the timing of the policy. “This analysis is based on the trend of homecoming time in the previous year, the time of joint leave for workers and students, the availability of transportation modes, and monitoring of economic conditions,” he said. 

In addition to adaptations made to accommodate people who use private vehicles, adaptations in the provision of public transportation also continue to be made. This is evidenced by the increase in the bus fleet as well as the addition of airplane and train departure schedules for areas where people have high mobility demands.

Looking at the time pattern of the homecoming flow and the establishment of joint leave, the peak of the return flow is expected to occur two to three days after the holiday, coinciding with the weekend. The limited time for the return flow will have an impact on the massive number of vehicles in several locations. “In terms of capacity, the time provided is not enough, but the adaptation of road users also needs to be considered,” added the bespectacled man.

Through the momentum of Lebaran’s 2024 homecoming, Aga expressed his hope that the government can provide socialization to the public regarding recommended routes and times, as well as routes that should be avoided. Through expert analysis, people can wisely determine the right time to go home. “It is necessary to integrate and provide better information so that homecoming in the future will be smoother,” concluded Aga (ITS PR).

Reporter: A. Rifda Yuni Artika
Editor: Irwan Fitranto