Bali Lovers Growing Frustrated With Lack Of Action On Traffic

If at least the current rules were enforced and law breakers fined.

A huge amount of congestion could be alleviated in Kuta, Legian and Seminyak by stopping taxis, GoCar, GrabCar and private transport driving around all day looking for fares. Look at the availability of parking for bikes on Jl Pantai Kuta versus available parking for cars. Huge problem with cars parked illegally and reducing it to one lane. Create pickup and drop off zones for taxis in popular tourist places. Ban cars from rat running down narrow gangs only wide enough for bikes. Just some suggestions.

How about some basic traffic management as a start. In Ubud no traffic lights and no traffic police, everyone going everywhere. Just keeping traffic on their side of the road would make a huge difference, one way loops through narrow areas. There are some really easy wins here that would make a world of difference.

Along with wider roads, Footpaths would be a great idea! Tourists actually enjoy walking around and exploring. Currently this is a hazardous activity in most areas of Bali due to the masses of vehicles speeding by and driving up on the road edges due to traffic congestion. Perhaps if Footpaths were in place, local residents might also enjoy walking - instead of always using a vehicle. The air pollution in many areas, possibly due to all the vehicles and rubbish burning, etc - really, really needs to be addressed urgently.

I read frequently the articles on this website as I am NOT currently living in Bali but will move there in a year... and OMG, I am already dreading the traffic. I have some experience with gridlocks as living in another SE Asia country and yes, I understand it is not pleasant to be stuck in traffic, whatever the means of transportation you are using. But while reading this article, some questions/comments popped up and be sure that I am not writing in a polemical way but happy to discuss. For info, it took me 2 days to comment on this article as I was playing the devil's advocate with my own comments/questions - instant/hot reactions are never a good thing ;) And again, my apologies if I am missing some points but please enlighten me. Anyway, here it goes: - how can there be more registered cars than population in Bali? Is that because the records are not up to date? Are motorcycles/mopeds included? I assume that car rentals might have more than 4 cars, and probably some hotels have also some cars for rent, but that is just crazy. - and yes, it is not really acceptable to see a 6-seater vans with only 1 or 2 people but maybe some attention should be brought to users or van owners. I remember in Thailand that for shuttle services between small airports and hotels (the vans were stopping at several hotels on their way to final destination), the vans would not depart until all seats are sold. Pain in the bottom because you have to wait for another plane and hope that the van would be full but 8 people plus the driver were using 1 vehicle instead of 4-5 vehicles going individually. - will a highway solve the issue? I am a bit sceptical. Highways are designed for long distance, to go faster and to avoid cities, villages, hamlets. But if a destination is quite famous for any reason, the traffic jam will actually start when exiting the highway. If the road infrastructure at the highway exit is not able to manage the traffic influx, then it's probably back to square one. - I was really puzzled by this sentence : "If vehicle restrictions are implemented it will affect government revenue from motor vehicle taxes,...". So OK, the problem is identified but money is so important that nothing will be done in vehicle restriction? As far as I understand this article and the comments, the risks are that in the long term, the revenue generated by tourism will be in jeopardy. Taking quite a HUGE short-cut, with no more tourists, there won't be any need for cars and it will be a lose-lose situation: both on tourism incomes (for locals) and vehicle taxes (for government). I reckon it is a HUGE short-cut I took, and sorry about this. - because tourism, as any business, is also quite a competitive sector and other countries in SE Asia are not waiting to promote their own paradise, I don't think I will be really happy to spend 4 hours in a traffic jam to go to my favourite place or to show a nice village to family visiting Bali. I will probably stay local, walking distance, and that will be it. A bit of a shame when I understand that Bali has so much to offer but I will pass rather than driving (on my own or with taxi/moped) and be stuck for ages. - don't get me wrong, I do use taxis/mopeds when I can't use public transports because my destination is nowhere near a bus/train station, or when it's chucking with heavy rains (not always the good option as rain tends to make traffic worse anyway). But this is where you can actually help: is that any public transportation on the Island right now? I mean bus mainly. If yes, do you think it serves the needs of the island? - there will be probably some more to discuss, investments to be done (but which ones), limiting the number of tourists (implementing a selection on high-end/rich tourists... who will probably stay in their hotel during the whole time, going on a high-end tour once or twice... will that help the small economy of the island?), increasing the fees on visa (again, selecting the type of tourists, and where does the money goes anyway?) and I could go on and on.. - but some solutions should be considered and put in place because with the era of social media, the reputation of a country/island can also be damaged as quickly as the reputation of an individual. Car-sharing? Shuttles provided by hotels to pick-up their staff along a defined route? Incentives to limit the number of cars/bicycles owned by rentals... - some countries have implemented some solutions, sometimes at the expense of the inhabitants, but with the right balance of restrictions and offers (you can't implement a huge restriction on vehicles if you don't provide some alternatives), the whole experience of travelling within Bali could be a pleasant experience for everybody... but I might be naive or trusting too much in humanity, and forget a major point: greediness. Again, my intention was not to be conflictual but really to understand why it is going so side-ways in Bali. And I will apologise to anybody if any of the above is offensive or just irrelevant. Happy to discuss in a civilised way.