Jakarta. The flow of travelers returning to their hometowns has surged across multiple transportation routes as Eid al-Fitr approaches, which is expected to fall on March 20 or 21.

Transportation Minister Dudy Purwagandhi predicted that the peak of the annual homecoming exodus will occur simultaneously across all modes of transportation on March 18.

The government expects the number of travelers to continue rising as the Eid holiday approaches.

The Transportation Ministry has projected 143.9 million trips during the 2026 Eid holiday period, equivalent to about half the country’s population, one of the world’s largest seasonal travel movements.

Strong Demand for Rail Travel

Passenger mobility on railways has surged ahead of Eid. State-owned railway operator Indonesian Railway reported that as of March 16, a total of 271,309 passengers had departed on long-distance trains from the Jakarta Operational Area 1 region.

The largest departures were recorded at Pasar Senen Station with 23,259 passengers, followed by Gambir Station with 17,198 passengers and Bekasi Station with 6,301 passengers.

Demand for train travel has remained high between March 11 and March 20, with a total of 468,795 tickets sold at Pasar Senen station alone. Ticket sales peaked on March 15 with 52,008 tickets, followed by 51,584 on March 16 and 51,128 on March 14.

The surge in demand has been partly driven by a government policy offering a 30% discount on train fares between March 14 and March 29, covering around 1.2 million commercial economy-class seats nationwide.

Toll Roads See Heavy Traffic

Traffic congestion has also intensified along major toll roads. Vehicles traveling from Jakarta toward eastern regions via the Jakarta–Cikampek Toll Road and the Cikopo–Palimanan Toll Road have begun to increase, particularly private cars.

Heavy traffic was observed around kilometer 72 in Purwakarta, West Java. Traffic data from the Cikampek Utama Toll Gate recorded 5,479 vehicles heading toward Palimanan.

Meanwhile, 2,164 vehicles entered through the Kalihurip Utama Toll Gate toward Bandung via the Cipularang Toll Road.

As of March 14, Toll road operator Jasa Marga reported that 650,213 vehicles had left the Greater Jakarta area for various hometown destinations.

Jasa Marga President Director Rivan Purwantono said most vehicles were heading east through the Trans-Java corridor and toward Bandung.

“Most vehicles are traveling east, with 297,893 vehicles, or around 45.8 percent of the total traffic leaving Greater Jakarta,” he said.

Long Queues at Ferry Ports

Congestion has also been reported at ferry ports. At Gilimanuk Port in Bali, queues of vehicles stretched for around 15 kilometers.

The lines consisted of private cars, buses, and logistics trucks that had been waiting since Sunday.

Some travelers said the situation was worse than in previous years. One traveler, Slamet, said he had been waiting in line since Sunday afternoon but had yet to enter the port area.

“I’m heading back to my hometown in Demak, Central Java. Our group has been waiting since yesterday at 2 p.m., and there hasn’t been any movement,” he said on Monday.

Data from the Gilimanuk monitoring post recorded 37,877 passengers crossing from Bali to Java in the 24-hour period of H-8 before Eid. A total of 12,176 vehicles also crossed, consisting of 6,066 motorcycles, 3,573 small vehicles, 2,154 trucks and 383 buses.

Cumulatively from H-10 to H-8 before Eid, 97,572 passengers and 31,045 vehicles had crossed from Bali to Java.

Bus Ticket Prices Surge

The spike in travel demand has also pushed up bus fares. At Kalideres Bus Terminal in West Jakarta, ticket prices have risen sharply ahead of Eid.

Nur Prasetyo, head of Kalideres Terminal, said the price increases began on March 10, ranging from 20 percent to as much as 100 percent compared with normal fares.

“From March 10 to March 13, prices rose about 20 percent. Between March 14 and 15, they increased around 50 percent, and from March 16 to March 19 the fares doubled,” he said on Sunday.

Despite the heavy travel flow, many travelers have already arrived in their hometowns to celebrate Eid.

Traffic monitoring data from the Yogyakarta Smart Province CCTV system showed that 96,668 vehicles had entered the Special Region of Yogyakarta during Operation Ketupat Progo 2026.

Among the monitored routes, the Tempel intersection in Sleman recorded the heaviest traffic.

Widya Mustikaningrum, head of traffic safety at the Yogyakarta Police Traffic Directorate, said 20,190 vehicles entered through the route, while 18,752 vehicles left the Special Region of Yogyakarta via the same intersection.

A similar trend was recorded in Central Java. According to toll road operators Jasa Marga Semarang Batang and Trans Marga Jateng, around 11,000 vehicles entered Central Java from Jakarta through the Kalikangkung Toll Gate between 6 a.m. on March 13 and 6 a.m. on March 14.