"Free travel during the Eid return flow is part of the free Eid homecoming program organized by the Directorate General. We provided 160 buses for travel during the Eid return flow," the ministry's Director of Road Transport, Suharto, stated at the Giwangan Terminal, Yogyakarta.
According to the statement received here on Monday, Suharto remarked that the free bus travel is organized from nine type-A terminals in the five provinces of Yogyakarta, East Java, Central Java, West Java, and South Sumatra.
"For departure from Yogyakarta's Giwangan Terminal, we sent off 20 buses, with a passenger quota of 800. Meanwhile, 140 buses departed from the other eight terminals," the ministry's director remarked.
The destination points of the free bus travel are at Jatijajar terminal in Depok, Pulogebang and Kampung Rambutan terminals in Jakarta, Poris Plawad terminal in Tangerang, and Pondok Cabe terminal in South Tangerang, he revealed.
Suharto spoke of his side having also dispatched seven trucks carrying 210 motorcycles belonging to Eid travelers to South Tangerang's Pondok Cabe Terminal on Sunday (April 14).
He said the program benefited Eid travelers, especially those who usually used motorcycles for long-distance travel to their hometowns.
According to the Police's Traffic Corps data, providing free travel as an alternative to traveling by motorcycles helped reduce traffic accidents during this year's Eid homecoming period by 12 percent as compared to last year's Eid travel.
"It means that this kind of program helps reduce the accident fatality rate," Suharto stated.
For this year's Eid homecoming, 40,088 travelers joined the directorate general's free travel, an increase of 62.33 percent from last year.
The ministry's director remarked that the authority will consider increasing the travelers' quota and travel routes for next year's free Eid travel program.
"We hope this program will be useful for travelers in need so that they can enjoy a joyful and meaningful Eid travel and return to the city they are working at safely," he remarked.
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Translator: M Harianto, Nabil Ihsan
Editor: Aditya Eko Sigit Wicaksono
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