King of the road: A bus causes traffic to halt in a narrow street in Ubud, Bali. The town, once known as the sleepy cultural hub of the province is today a mass of snarling stop-and-go traffic.
A crisis point in traffic congestion has hit the 2009 Conde Nast Traveler Readers Choice Awards for Asia’s best city.
Ubud in Bali, once known as the sleepy cultural hub of the province is today a mass of snarling stop-and-go traffic.
The hallmark broad white grin of the Balinese is still to be found amid this honking, polluting crawl of vehicles, but more and more it has given way to teeth barred in a grimace of road rage.
Drivers dodge oncoming traffic hurtling illegally down narrow one-way streets, public parking spaces and pathways have been commandeered by businesses both small and large.
Motorbike rental businesses line hundreds of meters of this public road access, while little shops place no parking signs to ward off drivers not intending to shop at their premises. Buses park over footpaths forcing pedestrians into the crowded roadway, placing them at risk of being hit.
This usurping of Ubud’s public roadway is illegal. If you throw into this mix hotel tour drivers that speed through the traffic beeping at full blast and overtaking at intersections to be on time to collect their precious cargo of tourists; gangs of 12-year-olds astride mum’s motor bike, their feet not yet touching the ground, no helmets and certainly no license, not to mention visiting tourists who follow local driving examples, risking life and limb in the process: The crown atop Conde Nast Asia’s best city starts to tilt.
Ubud is on track to become a traffic basket case, according to locally born urban transport management expert and secretary of the Gianyar office of information and communications, I Made Rai Ridartha.
“One problem is people don’t want to change. We need to try and change their [traffic] mindset, because if we don’t, in the end, people will stay away from Ubud,” says Ridartha, who last Friday spoke as an individual community member with the newly formed Bali Think Tank, a cross cultural group of people working to raise issues such as traffic.
“[Take] issues such as signage. Every time we put in an application for signage funding, its not there. It’s also common for underage children to be allowed to ride motor bikes — that is a serious problem that leads to deaths. Here in Bali we have almost two road deaths every day — more than 500 a year.”
Ridartha says the road toll carnage is a Bali-wide problem that in Ubud meets a confluence of other problems such as narrow roads, increasing traffic throughput, 80-seat busses, and inadequate parking space.
JP/Irma
“We have some opportunities in Ubud to overcome these problems that many see as just traffic or transport issues, but these are linked with social welfare that affects and is affected by society.”
Unfortunately people don’t want to change, he goes on. Roads have been made one way but that is ignored.
“There is a feeling that if you are local, you are above the law. And I must say that some police and members of my own team here allow that and are not keen to enforce the laws on their countrymen,” said Ridartha.
Land cost in and around Ubud was another impact on traffic congestion. Ridartha points out that people choose to build a shop in front of their homes rather than a garage for their vehicles.
“With land being so expensive, people prefer to build a shop that will bring in income and park their vehicles on the road, again reducing roadway.”
Ridartha’s department is now working to find open land on the outskirts of Ubud that could be used as a bus park for the 80-seat buses that many believe are the greatest traffic issue affecting the town. Shuttle buses into town and well-maintained footpaths would allow visitors a far better experience of Ubud while potentially also increasing trade, adds Ridartha.
“Those with more time may choose to walk [instead of catching the shuttle bus]. This means more window shopping and possibly more sales.”
However Ridartha warns that finding open land in Ubud is very difficult and very expensive.
Private rules: A homemade sign blocks access to part of a public road.
“Two areas have been considered and they could offer communities an income while freeing up traffic in Ubud,” says Ridartha.
Another problem that needs to be addressed is keeping the footpaths of Ubud clear and safe. Ridartha suggests asking motorbike rental groups to only display one or two of their bikes on the road, while parking the rest outside of the town centre, and removing private no parking signs – which are illegal.
“Footpaths also need to have good surfaces. At the moment they are not good; there are holes everywhere. This is dangerous for pedestrians.”
Other issues to be addressed include transport operators and hotel-parking facilities taking up valuable roadway, employees blocking out parking zones with motor bikes and illegal driving.
“There is that old joke of a police man stopping three people on a motor bike. Why are there three of you? Because we couldn’t fit the fourth. The law is two people on bike, but does that mean parents have to leave their child at home?” says Ridartha, warming up to the topic closest to his heart.
Now comes the good news, says Ridartha. By the end of this year, the Governor Mangku Made Pastika wants to see a new public transport system.
“Currently there are new bus shelters in progress. The planned transport system will cover main routes as well as feeder routes, and will be price-competitive with private transport,” adds Ridartha.
The planned new transport system, funded through both provincial and central governments is the Sarbagita, or Denpasar, Badung, Gianyar, Tabanan system that will allow locals and visitors alike to hop a local bus from just about anywhere within the regions to just about anywhere else within the four regions.
The system, Ridartha believes will also ease traffic congestion in Ubud.
