Bali’s Ubud Is Losing Hope To Find Solutions To Tourist Traffic

Share The Article

Ubud is one of Bali’s most popular tourist destinations. Home to the island’s biggest arts and cultural wonders, the town is busier than ever in 2024.

However, Ubud was never built with the vision of welcoming millions of people every year, and leaders are struggling to find new solutions to mounting traffic congestion. 

From rerouting one-way streets to clamping down on illegal parking and putting more traffic officers in congestion-prone areas, leaders in Ubud have been trying everything to mitigate the town’s longstanding traffic congestion issues.

Ubud, a historic market town and royal palace complex, has grown rapidly over the last fifteen years into a busy and bustling tourism hotspot.

With thousands of tourists arriving in the area every day to explore cultural gems like the Saraswati Temple, the Campuhan Ridge Walk, and, of course, the Royal Palace, many feel that tourism has outgrown the town center. 

@omlyalya #ubudstreet #ubud #ubudbali #ubudlife #bali #baliroads ♬ You Give Me Something – Jamiroquai

With narrow streets and minimal size within the town center to build new structures and parking lots or even widen the roads, transportation leaders in Ubud are starting to lose hope of a solution, especially as tourism continues to boom. Bali is set to surpass pandemic tourism figures this year, which would make 2024 the island’s busiest year on record. 

The Gianyar Transportation Agency has confirmed that the most recent traffic engineering project has not successfully broken down traffic congestion in Ubud center and the surrounding areas.

The Head of Transportation Agency, Gianyar Made Arianta, told reporters that traffic engineering efforts in Ubud can only overcome congestion at a certain point because the streets in Ubud are simply too narrow.

@flacooboom

Ubud traffic way more crazy than me

♬ suara asli – ge

Not only have the Gianyar Transportation Agency been trailing new traffic flow systems in and out of Ubud town center, but they have also been coordinating with the Ubud Traditional Village leaders to create dedicated passenger drop-off zones for taxis and private drivers.

However, this led to further traffic jams in many places as vehicles queued to drop off and queued to pick travelers up. 

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Sanna-Mari | Travel Content Creator | 📍🇫🇮 (@finnvoyager)

Moving forward, the Gianyar Transportation Agency will coordinate with the Bali Provincial Transportation Agency to discuss the options that could be taken regarding large-capacity vehicles, such as construction trucks, logistics vehicles, and other large vehicles that enter the Ubud area.

These, too, have been a huge trigger for traffic jams as the large vehicles are often pushed into the center of two-way streets due to illegally parked vehicles along the edge, which further prevents motorcycles and cars from safely driving past on the other side of the road. 

In the last year other initiatives have been trialed in Ubud to help mitigate the rising traffic issues, including the SMART @ Ubud free shuttle bus service, a project that was sponsored but the Toyota Mobility Fund.

As the findings for the trial period are off for analysis, it is unclear whether the service will be reintroduced as a permanent solution in the future.

The traffic affects not only Jalan Raya Ubud, Jalan Hanuman, and Jalan Monkey Forest but also all the roads feeding into central Ubud from the north, south, east, and west.

Traffic is now backing up so frequently that surrounding villages like Penestanan, Sayan, Mas, and even as far as Tegallalang are all experiencing traffic congestion throughout the day, impacting both tourist and local residents who are struggling to travel around their communities without getting caught in major congestion. 

The Gianyar Transportation Agency, Bali Traffic Police and Ubud Traditional Village leaders will continue to work together to find new solutions to the problem to help ensure that tourists have a memorable and easy travel experience in Ubud. 

Provincial leaders in Bali are investing huge funds to resolve tourism traffic congestion issues in south Bali, though things may be about to get worse before they get better.

Leaders in Badung Regency have told the public to brace for more traffic in and around Uluwatu, Jimbaran, Kuta, and Sanur as of September as work gets underway on widening the bypass ring road and the new Bali Urban Rail Network.