Traffic during Homecoming Season was Better, What's the reason?

Traffic during homecoming season 2018 was considered better than in the previous years. Travel time was reduced, so was accident rate. Anticipative strategies that the government and related stakeholders had prepared were also deemed successful.

Looking at traffic safety, the accident rate during homecoming season 2018 was reduced to 30% compared to the rate in 2017. Percentage of death casualties due to accident was also reduced by 34%.

"The number of traffic accidents during Ketupat Operation from H-8 to H+8 in 2017 compared to 2018 was reduced by 824 occurrences or 30%," Indonesian National Police Public Relations Division Information Head Chief Commissioner Yusri Yunus told Kompas.com, Saturday (June 23).

Moreover, traffic congestion during homecoming season was not as bad as in the previous years. Vehicle volume indeed increased, but vehicle speed was better; slowdown only happened at several points.

"From my observation and experience, what happened was not traffic congestion but slowdown," Indonesian Transportation Society (MTI) Advocacy Chair Darmaningtyas said.

According to him, congestion indeed happened on June 12 and 13 in some parts of Jakarta-Cikampek-Cipali toll road. However, the congestion could be broken down with the implementation of contraflow system.

Success Factors

Other factors that determined the success of homecoming season 2018 were the extension of collective holiday, the opening of Trans Jawa toll road, and the decrease in the number of travelers.

"Long holiday before and after Eid allowed people to manage their travel in a more flexible way," Darmaningtyas said.

During homecoming season 2018, the flow happened from H-7 to H-2, while last year, the flow was centered on days from H-3 to H-2. Thus, this year the flow was broken down because there were more options for departure time.

Besides that, the operation of Trans Jawa toll road whether operationally or functionally had helped to break down vehicle volume density. As already known, congestion in roads heading to Java was higher during homecoming season, in comparison to roads heading to Sumatra or other islands.

Nevertheless, the number of homebound travelers in 2018 was fewer than in previous years. Many city residents decided not to go back to their hometowns for various reasons. 

According to Darmaningtyas, the three indicators are the less crowded destinations outside Java, increased traffic in Jakarta compared to last year, and the reduced number of cars heading out of Cikampek toll road.

"According to Jasa Marga's data, the number of vehicles heading out of Cikampek toll gate from H-10 to H+1 dropped from 1,192,704 cars in 2017 to 995,393 cars (decreased by 16.54%) this year," Darmaningtyas continued.

These factors were thought to be behind the success of homecoming season 2018. Some people who went back to their hometowns back then could enjoy a shorter duration of travel.

The anticipative strategies were quite successful in creating a safer and smoother traffic during homecoming season, especially since many people still chose to go on homebound trips using private cars. 

This choice was felt to be more economic and efficient because travelers usually bring some of their family members and quite many luggage. 

This also boosted car sales, both new and used cars. For used cars, the increase reached 15%-20% than the usual months, as experienced by mobil88.

This subsidiary of PT Serasi Autoraya which is part of Astra offers the service of high-quality used car sales. People prefer buying used cars during homecoming season because the administration process is faster. The car can be used directly after the payment is settled.

Moreover, cars offered by mobil88 are guaranteed to have complete and authentic documents and be in prime condition. Used cars sold by mobil88 did not experience flood and accident, and their odometers were not tampered with.

Before the cars are sold, mobil88 conducted comprehensive checks.The checks are done four times before the cars are bought by the customers so that they can get used cars with the best quality.

With vehicles in prime condition and various anticipative actions by the government and related stakeholders, homecoming season 2018 was more conducive. It is expected that this success will be an important note for an even better homecoming season in the future.