"We request that the public reduce the use of bikes, especially for long-distance trips," Transportation Minister Budi Karya Sumadi said.
Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Millions of people conduct home-bound trip (mudik) to have family reunions in their hometowns during the post-fasting Eid ul-Fitr or Lebaran festivities every year.

During the exodus of mudik travelers, the number of traffic accidents is high befalling Lebaran revelers, notably those using vehicles prone to accidents such as motorcycles.

Motorcycles is a simple and cost-efficient means of transportation which is why its number continues to increase every year during the Lebaran occasion.

In line with the increasing number of motorists, the government in its efforts to reduce accidents has since in the past several years offered a free ride program for motorcyclists.

In the face of this years post-fasting Lebaran festivities, -- the fasting month expected to begin next Saturday -- the government is once again offering a free mudik program to passengers, including motorcyclists.

Transportation Ministry will organize the free ride transportation for about 208,435 passengers and 44,471 motorcycles through land and sea transportation.

Transportation Minister Budi Karya Sumadi in a press conference, Thursday (May 18), appealed to people to take advantage of the ministrys free transportation program for homecoming, locally called mudik.

"We want this free trip to be utilized optimally, because last year, (implementation) was less than maximum," he noted.

Sumadi added the free homecoming program was an opportunity that should be utilized by the public to reduce the level of accidents that mostly occur on motorcycles.

"We request that the public reduce the use of bikes, especially for long-distance trips," he said.

Sumadi mentioned that the budget for free motorcycle transportation this year was Rp90 billion, of which Rp30 billion was for land transportation, Rp32 billion for sea transportation and the rest was for trains.

He mentioned that the free transportation program would make available 3,409 buses, up by 24.46 percent of the 2,739 free buses made available last year.The number of trucks for motorcycle transportation being made available is 124 units. The number remains the same as last year.

Meanwhile, the passenger capacity had been increased to 208,435, an increase of 69.83 percent from the 122,733 passenger capacity in 2016.

The number of motorcycles transported experienced a significant increase by 154.72 percent to 44,721 motorbikes from the 17,557 motorbikes last year.

Land Transportation Directorate General is ready to transport 58,410 mudik travelers, consisting of 3,510 motorcycles and 54,900 passengers. "We will do our best to accord priority to the safety of passengers and reduce the accident rates on the traffic," Cacu Mulyana, the director for Multi-mode Transportation Affairs of the Land Transportation Directorate General, said in written statement on Saturday (May 20).

Mulyana said through the free mudik program, the government is doing its best to provide services for the people and to reduce and control the number of vehicles during the Lebaran exodus. The Ministry of Transportation is launching the program in its efforts to reduce the number of motorcycle accidents.

In carrying out the program the Directorate General of Land Transportation uses buses, trucks and ferries. It will transport 3,510 motorcycles using 77 trucks and 54,900 passengers using 1,220 buses. Two ferries will be operated with a dead weight of 5,000 GT heading for Lampung in Sumatra and Semarang in Central Java.

The directorate general of land transportation also mobilized trains to carry motorcycles. The number of motorcycles that can be tagged by trains is 18,096 units for 2017. Motorcycle transportation by trains will be free, while for passengers it is not.

The free ride program has 30 destination cities in West Java, Central Java, Yogyakarta, and its return flow destination cities included eight cities of Tasikmalaya, Ciamis, Garut, Cirebon, Kudus, Semarang, Solo and Yogyakarta. The destinations for those using ferries are Semarang in Central Java and Lampung in Sumatra.

Director General of Land Transportation of the Ministry of Transportation Pudji Hartanto Iskandar said state-owned companies also took part in the free mudik program. The participation of the state-owned enterprises (SOE) providing free motorcycle transportation had increased from 16 in 2016 to 22 in 2017.

"We hope more SOEs will participate in the free mudik program," he affirmed.

He said the departure points were in Taman Mini Indonesia Indah for buses, Jakarta Gudang Station for trains and Tanjung Priok Port for the ships (sea).

In addition to motorcycle transportation by land, motorcycles will also be transported through sea by providing a passenger capacity of 32,000 people and 16,000 units of motorcycles.

The Directorate General of Sea Transportation will organize free mudik program this year. Director General of Sea Transportation A Tonny Budiono said in press conference recently that his office is preparing three ship schedules through the route of Tanjung Priok Port of Jakarta to Tanjung Emas Port of Semarng in Central Java. "The free ride program with ships for motorists is aimed at smoothing the traffic flows," he said.

He said three ships are made available for the program with a total capacity of 16,000 motorcycles and 32,000 passengers.

For the homecoming flows from Tanjung Priok Port, there will be six trips beginning on June 16 2017 to June 23, 2017 while for its return flows from Tanjung Emas Port the trips will last from June 27, 2017 to July 4, 2017.(*)

Reporter: Andi Abdussalam
Editor: Heru Purwanto
Copyright © ANTARA 2017