"The Dishub across the country should prepare everything to make a success the transportation of Leberan 2013 travelers, and do their best to reduce transportation accident rate," Land Transportation Director General Suroyo Alimoeso said in written statement here on Saturday.
Suryo said that to cut the number of accidents during this year`s Idul Fitri home-bound trips (Mudik Lebaran), the transportation services (Dishub) in the provincial and district levels must installed good traffic signs in certain places.
In a number of points stall face shortage of traffic lighting facilities. The same is also true in a number of residential areas. These areas should be provided with enough lighting facilities through the state-owned power utility company PLN, according to the director general.
He said that the regional governments had the authority to install such facilities. The installation of power facilities using solar cells needed a lot of funds and it needed a long time to install them.
"If need be, the efforts to provide lighting in quiet dark lanes must be done by putting torches like what residents usually do in villages," said Suroyo.
The director general also reminded that bus terminals should also function as a place for travelers to take a rest. For this purpose, toilets at bus terminals must be clean. Check points could also be used as a place for Idul Fitri travelers to take rest because check points which are used for checking trucks, will not be operated during the Idul Fitri or Lebaran festivities.
"Transportation services are recommended to put banners at check points and bus terminals that explained the place for taking rest," he said.
He also said that besides land transportation, inland waterway transportation services (ASDP) must also get attention.
Before operating them, seaports, piers, ships must be evaluated first, he said.
In the meantime, Transportation Minister E.E. Mangindaan said last week that the number of air passengers would drastically increase in the coming post-fasting festivities.
"Like in previous years, the number of air passengers will increase sharply. And this year it is expected to experience the highest increase ever," the minister said here on Thursday.
He said that about 3,756,464 million Idul Fitri travelers are expected to use airplanes for their home-bound trips this year, up 11.7 percent from that in 2012.
This year the fasting month is expected to begin on July 9 or 10, 2013 for one month after which the Idul Fitri festivities will follow.
The minister said that now airlines should begin preparing anticipatory steps in the face of the air passenger increase, by for example increasing the number of their fleet.
At larger airports the flow of passengers could increase up to 25 percent, like at the airports of Soekarno-Hatta (Jakarta), Juanda (Surabaya, East Java) and Hasanuddin (Makassar, South Sulawesi).
In the meantime, the minister also predicted that the number of sea transportation means would also increase from 1,588,554 in 2012 to 1,664,832 in 2013 during the Lebaran in 2013.
He said that the number of passengers using the inland waterway transportation means (ASDP) would also increase by 1.76 percent from 3,276,851 to 3,334,425, most of which would be at the Merak-Bakauheni crossing point which connected Java with Sumatra.
Mangindaan said that train passengers would also increase by 0.62 percent as the number of train trips and train chains would be raised.
Last year, the number of train Idul Fitri passengers reached 3,102,386 and this year it is predicted to increase to 3,121,553, he said.
(A014)
Editor: Jafar M Sidik
Copyright © ANTARA 2013
