Jakarta – The Transportation Ministry has predicted that more than 193 million people, or 71 percent of the country's population, are expected to participate the annual Idul Fitri tradition of mudik (exodus) in early April.
The number is a significant increase from last year's 123.8 million travelers, Transportation Minister Budi Karya Sumadi wrote in a Tuesday statement.
The estimate was based on a survey jointly conducted by the ministry, Statistics Indonesia (BPS) and the Communications and Information Ministry.
In anticipation of influx of travelers, the Transportation Ministry is expected to roll out a number of policies, including some meant to encourage holidaymakers to take earlier trips to avoid peak travel days and others aimed at dealing with traffic congestion.
"The scheduling of departure times, providing discounts on travel fares [for departures] as early as possible or free trips, discounts on toll road fares and traffic management will be aimed at places where we expect the highest concentrations of travelers," Budi Karya said.
Idul Fitri is expected to begin this year on April 9, depending on the sighting of the moon, and the majority of the country's Muslims are expected to begin making trips to their hometowns about one week before that date.