As of Monday morning, or D-Day minus one, Bakauheni ferry port in Lampung was still packed with incoming home-bound Lebaran holiday travelers from Merak port in Banten on the northwestern tip of Java island.
Having a difficulty to get public transportation to their respective homes, a multitude of the holiday travelers had to spend the night at Bakauheni port before proceeding their journey to the main terminal of Rajabasa in Bandarlampung.
On Sunday, the largest Rajabasa bus terminal at the southern part of Sumatra island was also packed with Lebaran holiday travelers, traveling to the cities in Sumatra.
Following the increasing number of prospective passengers at the terminal, the waiting hours of Bakauheni ferry port bound buses was shorter than that during regular days.
As the buses from Bakauheni port entered Rajabasa terminal, the passengers swarmed into them and in less than ten minutes they left again for their original places.
On the other hand, the flow of travelers in the opposite direction or from Bakauheni to Merak on Monday was much smaller. There were no long lines of vehicles and passengers waiting to get on a ferry boat to Merak port.
Based on data from PT ASDP Indonesia Ferry, the number of holiday travelers who crossed from Bakauheni to Merak two days before Lebaran had reached 210,225.
Meanwhile, spokesman of the Lebaran exodus command post at Bakauheni port, Heru Purwanto, said that of the 210,225 people who crossed over to Merak port on Monday, 189,694 were passengers in buses and private cars and 20,462 pedestrians.
Besides, the number of motor vehicles that crossed from Bakauheni to Merak was made up of 20,815 cars, 5,429 motorcycles, and thousands of buses and trucks.
Heru said the number of home-bound travelers was still predicted to increase by about 30,000 people a day before Idul Fitri.
"Lebaran mass exodus through Bakauheni and Merak ferry ports reached their highest points on Saturday and on Monday," Heru said.
Meanwhile, it was reported from Merak port, connected to Jakarta via Jakarta-Merak Toll Road, that a total of 93,832 holiday travelers crossed from the port to Bakauheny on Sunday, two days ahead of Idul Fitri or Lebaran festivity.
"Passenger data on Sunday or D-Day minus two was dominated by passengers on vehicles," Inland Waterway Transportation Service PT ASDP Indonesia Ferry Operation Manager for Merak port, Zalis Anas said on Monday.
He said that based on recapitulation data, the 93,832 holiday travelers and vehicles, transported by ferry ships from 8 on Sunday morning until 8 on Monday morning, was made up of 276 on speed boats, 6,315 pedestrian passengers, and 77,241 passengers on vehicles.
Zalis added that a total of 19,411 vehicles, divided into 9,743 two-wheel vehicles, 8,698 private cars and small vehicles, 592 buses and 378 trucks.
According to him, from 8 am to 4 on Friday or the D-Day minus four, a total of of 25,333 holiday travelers were transported to Bakauheni.
Zailis said the 25,333 travelers were transported in eight hours from Merak, and the number in the day was bigger that on the previous day.
He said that of the 25,333 travelers, 5,792 were passengers in persons while 19,541 were passengers on vehicles, while the two-wheel vehicles in that day numbered 1,946 units, private cars 2,507 units, buses 110 units and trucks 271 units.
Meanwhile, PT ASDP Indonesia Ferry director of the port business Prasetyo B Utomo explained that the increasing number in the flow of holiday travelers through Merak port was beyond the prediction of PT ASDP Indonesia Ferry.
"As of D-Day minus two, the surge of passengers still occurs but the number is not the same as that on Saturday and Friday or D-Day minus three and four when there was a long line of vehicles outside Merak port along Merak toll road," Prasetyo said.
But by Monday afternoon Zailis said the situation in Merak port, connecting Java island to Sumatra, turned quiet without the presence of significant number of homecoming travelers.
"By this afternoon the number of travelers are below normal. Only a few travelers cross from Merak port to Bakauheni port in Lampung province," Zailis Anas said.
He added that the situation on Monday was unlike the previous two days where there was a peak of travelers in the port.
According to him, two days ago travelers had to wait for the ships that would carry them across the island. He said PT ASDP on Monday only operate 22 roll on-roll off ships and one ferry to transport travelers to Bakauheni port.
"The number of travelers have been gradually reduces since last night and this noon," said Zailis.
Last year`s Idul Fitri travelers in the country were recorded at 27.25 million, of which 16.2 million used various public transportation modes while the remaining 11.2 million used private cars and motor cycles. (T.O001/H-NG)
Reporter: by Otniel Tamindael
Editor: Priyambodo RH
Copyright © ANTARA 2011
