Christmas and New Year transportation becomes a lesson

This article has been translated by PwC Indonesia as part of our Indonesia Infrastructure News Service. PwC Indonesia has not checked the accuracy of, and accepts no responsibility for the content.

Investor Daily - Angkutan Nataru jadi pembelajaran

2 January 2025

By Heru Febrianto

Jakarta, ID – There are several observations from the 2024/2025 Christmas and New Year transportation period, ranging from traffic accidents to congestion at tourist locations. These serve as lessons for the government in preparation for the Eid transportation period in 2025.

Transportation Minister Dudy Purwagandhi is urging his agency and transportation stakeholders to use the 2024/2025 Christmas and New Year transportation period as a learning opportunity for managing Eid transportation in 2025.

"The 2025 Eid is not far away. What we have implemented during this Christmas and New Year period must serve as a lesson to apply during the 2025 Eid homecoming period. This way, the public will receive better services," the Transportation Minister said during his visit to Tanjung Emas Port in Semarang, Central Java, on Tuesday (31/12/2024).

The Transportation Minister stated that stakeholders in the transportation sector must focus on aspects such as passenger safety, services, facilities, and cooperation with relevant parties.

"I hope everyone will work together. The Transportation Ministry, state-owned enterprises (SOEs), and operators must provide the best services for the people," the Transportation Minister stated.

During his visit to Tanjung Emas Port, the Transportation Minister toured the integrated planning and control room at the passenger terminal. This room is used to digitally monitor all port services, including ship stevedoring, container and non-container terminals, and traffic management.

Tanjung Emas Port is one of the 264 observation ports involved in the 2024/2025 Christmas and New Year transportation operations.

Currently, Tanjung Emas Port has prepared six ships, consisting of two PT Pelni ships and four PT Dharma Lautan Utama ships, serving the Pontianak-Ketapang-Kumai-Sampit-Karimun Jawa route. During his visit, the Transportation Minister was accompanied by Sea Transportation Director General Antoni Arif Priadi.

The Transportation Ministry forecasted that 110.6 million people would travel during the 2024/2025 Christmas and New Year period. According to a survey conducted by the ministry, the distribution of public transportation users will be dominated by air travel, with air passengers expected to reach 8.2 million.

Meanwhile, railway transportation is predicted to carry around 6.8 million passengers. Land transportation, via terminals, is expected to serve about 2.5 million passengers. Ferries and ports are predicted to accommodate 1.6 million and 1.3 million passengers, respectively. The remaining travellers are expected to use private vehicles.

For private vehicle users on toll segments, the Transportation Ministry ensures that the free tariff policy applies only to certain toll segments that are operating on a functional basis or are still under construction.

Accidents and congestions

During the Christmas and New Year holiday period, Jasamarga Metropolitan Tollroad (JMT) recorded two accidents on the Cipularang toll road on Thursday (26/12).

Jasamarga Metropolitan Tollroad Regional Division Representative Office 3 Senior Manager Agni Mayvinna stated that after the accidents, Jasa Marga Metropolitan Tollroad, through Representative Office 3, along with Jasamarga Tollroad Operator (JMTO) and the police, arrived at the scenes to evacuate the vehicles and assist the victims.

The first accident occurred at KM 80+000 towards Jakarta at 1:35am Indonesian Western Time (WIB), involving a bus and a dump truck. There were multiple injured victims at the scene.

Several days before the accident, the Tirto Agung tourism bus, with the plate number S 7607 UW and carrying students from Darul Qur’an Mulia Putri Junior High School in Bogor, West Java, collided with a truck carrying animal feed, with the plate number S 9126 UU, at KM 77 on the Pandaan-Malang toll road in Malang, East Java, on Monday (23/12) evening.

Due to the accident, four people died, including the driver of the Tirto Agung bus and three students from Darul Qur’an Mulia Putri Islamic Junior High School in Bogor.

In addition to accidents, the government must also address congestion at various tourist destinations. Operational Development Head of the Traffic Unit of the City Police Resort of Bogor, Iptu Lukito, stated that on Wednesday (1/1), traffic volume increased at 1:30pm WIB at several points along the one-way route in Bogor. This was due to traffic coming from the Bogor Toll Gate (Jagorawi toll road) from Ciawi and Tajur towards the one-way route or the Bogor city centre.

The increase in traffic volume was due to the return flow from Puncak, Bogor Regency. This caused congestion at Tugu Kujang towards Jl. Otista, which is the main route for drivers travelling to Tangerang via Parung and to Depok or Jakarta via Cibinong.

In addition to Bogor, the road leading to Ragunan Zoo in South Jakarta was also congested on the first day of 2025. The congestion stretched from the traffic light before the Ministry of Agriculture to the entrance of Ragunan Zoo.

Preventable from the start

Djoko Setijowarno, a transportation observer from Unika Soegijapranata in Semarang, noted that the issues in the land transportation sector during this Christmas and New Year period are not significantly different from those in previous years.

"For example, issues arise from human error or vehicle problems. These issues are more or less the same each year, so they can be prevented as long as we remain vigilant and coordinate from the beginning," he told Investor Daily.

For instance, Djoko mentioned that tourism buses, which are often used by communities or tourists, should be a focus for both central and regional governments. "This means that, in addition to conducting ramp checks, the public should be able to view the identities of these tourism bus companies on the Transportation Ministry’s website. If the permits are complete, there will be no issue," he explained.

On the other hand, ramp checks or feasibility studies conducted by central and regional governments are crucial. They must collaborate with law enforcement to prevent accidents.

"I believe all these issues can be prevented as long as we coordinate swiftly. Ramp checks must continue to be conducted, and it's important to educate people not to choose just any bus transportation company, especially unofficial ones," he added.

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