With Traffic Jams ‘Haunting’ South Bali Leaders Commit To Keeping Tourists On The Move

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Traffic jams in Bali are no joke. If you know, you know!

As the island continues to grapple with increased pressure on infrastructure and with new road networks years away from being operational, local leaders are working to help implement fresh solutions to keep everyone moving. 

One of the worst regions of Bali for traffic congestion is Badung Regency, home to top tourism destinations like Kuta, Canggu, Seminyak, and Uluwatu.

The number of motorized vehicles in Badung is nearly twice the population. Traffic jams are a growing concern for the Badung Regency Government, particularly in areas where bottlenecks lead to complete gridlock for both motorcycles and cars. 

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The Head of the Badung Transportation Agency (Dishub), Aan Rai Yuda Darma, said that the number of motorized vehicles registered in the regency currently stands at 1,046,547.

This number is far greater than the official population of Badung, which is 568,550 people. This figure is the number of local residents, and does not include tourists or long-staying visitors on non-resident visas. 

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Darma was open in acknowledging that this is an overwhelming and stressful situation for Dishub to manage, but that he and his teams are committed to creating a sustainable solution. Moving forward, there will be a specific focus on North Kuta, Kuta, and South Kuta. Darma openly acknowledged, “This is the condition that makes our work in the field rather difficult together with the police.”

Badung Regency has the highest percentage of vehicle ownership compared to the rest of the province. There are also more vehicles registered in Bali than people. Official figures state that the population of Bali is 4.4 million, with 5 million vehicles. In Badung Regency, there are approximately 184 vehicles per 100 residents, while island-wide, there are 113 vehicles per 100 residents.

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To tackle this, especially during the rainy season, when flooding is widespread, affecting road travel, and during the Christmas and New Year holidays, when the volume of traffic hugely increases too, Dishub will be working around the clock to keep road users moving.

Darma shared, “We are implementing three shifts—morning, afternoon, and evening. Currently, we are tending to strengthen the regulation and security at South Kuta intersections such as Siligita, Nirmala, and Pecatu.”

He confirmed that even within Badung Regency, there are high-priority areas, such as Siligita, Nirmala, and Pecatu-Labuan Sait intersections.

Tourists and drivers will now see more traffic officers stationed at strategic points across Badung Regency to help keep the island moving.

Drivers are urged to work cooperatively with traffic officers and to follow their guidance. 

Over the coming months, and as a general rule, tourists in Bali are advised to leave above and beyond the anticipated travel time from A to B. During the upcoming Christmas and New Year holidays, there will be a huge spike in the number of vehicles on the road.

Not only do at least one million tourists arrive in Bali for the Christmas and New Year holidays, but thousands of domestic tourists also travel overland, bringing their own vehicles to Bali from Java for the holidays.

Tourists must be prepared to be stuck in traffic jams, especially when traveling through the most popular tourism resorts at peak rush hour times.

Tourists traveling to Bali in the coming months have already been warned of extreme weather during the rainy season. Flooding is now impacting many of Bali’s most congested roads on a daily basis. This includes localised flooding on highways and street-long floods in residential areas.

Tourists traveling to Bali are advised to keep up to date with the latest weather forecasting and weather warnings from the Bali Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysical Agency via Instagram. The account shared daily forecasts for tourists in English.