Traffic jam in Bali

Hi Lina,
Save yourself I suggest you defer your trip, seriously the traffic in Bali is at its very worst Its the high season here plus we have in construction a new Airport Plus also in construction a new Road network covering south Bali.

Yesterday, I returned to Bali from Australia,it took more than 1 hour just to exit the Airport then 1.5 hours to my home in Jimbaran (7 klms away) and this was at 23.00 hrs, when you would expect normally things much easier. However by Bike it would be a little quicker
Regards

Hi AussieHJ,

Thanks for your information. It has been a week I'm in Bali. Everywhere is jammed obviously!
Welcome to Bali me! Thanks again.
Regards
Lina

Traffic jams is often happen on this island especially in the Denpasar area (usually at bypass street near ngurah rai airport) during rush hour in the morning and evening when many people set off and come home from work

There are essentially three choices for Bali regarding its traffic problems.

One is to pave over another 20% of this beautiful place with asphalt or concrete, and another is to do what it has been doing for the last 20 odd years…that being to make subtle changes (improvements) in the road infrastructure overall, aka, the band aid approach.     

There is also a third aspect which is rather recent and having some impact…that being the Sarbagita bus system which seems at least partially successful thus far.   

And then there is my approach, which when I bring it up, it generally results in a host of slings and arrows coming my way, but more and more Balinese “in power” are starting to agree. 

That approach is for the powers to be to finally recognize that Bali’s success in tourism shouldn’t necessarily be judged by tourist arrivals, but rather should be best judged by the “quality”…meaning revenue, that the tourist brings to Bali.

I took my father in a taxi across Sunset road in heavy traffic and that was enough to make him rather unnerved, then I explain this is nothing compared to Jakarta, and you see the motorbikes all around, well I do that. He went very pale.
I think better control of who is actually allowed to ride a bike or hire a car in Bali would help. You see too many westerners riding around like they own the place but have no idea about how to ride in Indonesian traffic and therefore make it even more dangerous for everyone else.
Buses are an answer thats for sure and maybe put a tax and regulation into the hiring process for non Indonesian visitors.

Those ideas sound reasonable enough to me Luke and they certainly are less draconian than what I would like to see put in place here in Bali.

But, those ideas are also like band aid fixes…they will soon enough be overwhelmed.

It’s in the nature…it’s inherent within most all Balinese to welcome visitors with open arms and genuine appreciation to all visitors to Bali regardless of their financial wherewithal, (not to mention, color of skin, religion or cultural background), yet those same visitors are a vastly greater drain on natural resources than its own population.   

I am totally convinced that the long term future of Bali has to consider much greater management and control of its limited resources, otherwise it won’t be long before Bali is just another Disney Land, a Hawaii, and completely void of the essence of what is at the core of what makes Bali, Bali.

It’s far better to have one foreign tourist who spends an average of $200 a day than to have four who spend $50 a day.

I think the next time I get to Bali, I will head north to Lovina and stay there. Its still quiet there which is enough for me.

You might like Amed a lot more than Lovina unless you're into Russian folk songs.

If not Amed, try Padang Bai.

When I went to Bali we drove all over the place, used up all kinds of resources and spent very little money.  Oops.

Naughty Hailey! 

As tourists go, Americans are right up there as among the most favored as they have a reputation for staying in upscale resorts, being polite, (or at least somewhat well mannered), tipping very well and excessive shopping, often without any bargaining.

We stayed at a very nice resort, I'm always polite and know how to tip.  Since I live in Hong Kong, I know all about haggling.  We did very little shopping, but the locals were very nice to us all the same.