Letter: Bali tourism and traffic

International tourists and visitors to Bali are faced with long queues when passing through immigration. Hoteliers are hearing daily horror stories from their guests, in some cases waiting up to 3 hours in hot, stifling conditions to have the pleasure of facing unfriendly immigration officials.

The Ngurah Rai International Airport car park is full, packed with unproductive hotel vehicles, and patient yet unproductive hotel staff, waiting for hours to greet their guests. Jumbo jets arrive in sequence, disgorging their tired passengers after 14 hour flights. Only three or four immigration officers man the booths. Welcome to Paradise!

The BHA (Bali Hotel Association) has made representations to the relevant authorities, promises have been made to recruit more immigration officers. The queues continue.

Bali’s traffic is becoming increasingly and seriously congested. Today it is much worse than it was three months ago, a reasonable assumption is that it will become still more congested three months from now.

Some serious planning is required. Jack Daniels succinctly summarizes in his widely-read Bali Update that there is a critical need for a coordinated approach in solving the problems of the airport and traffic congestion. Capital cities such as Jakarta and Bangkok suffer traffic problems and residents are forced to endure the inconvenience.

Tourists have a choice, but a lack of will on the part of the authorities to provide solutions may force visitors to abandon these destinations.

While serious infrastructure planning and investment is required, the present rapidly deteriorating road congestion can indeed be improved. That is, if someone senior in authority is concerned. An immediate part solution is at hand. Traffic lights! Bangkok learned from international (foreign) advice: Manage the traffic lights efficiently. Study traffic flows.

Reduce the number of U-turns on two-lane highways. Major roads in Bangkok have traffic lights set on green for up to 3 minutes. In Jakarta up to 2 minutes. In Bali, lights remain on green from 25 to a maximum 50 seconds. Far too short a time! The main principle is traffic flow. The stop-go-stop-go of Bali’s traffic lights never allows the traffic to flow. Drivers watch the lights change two or three times and never move.

A long traffic jam builds up behind the traffic lights while the road ahead is empty for the next 500 meters. Some serious study of traffic flows is required in Bali, followed by a proper system of traffic management. Otherwise we may be witnessing the first stages of a “Destination in Decline”.

Douglas R. P. Wallace
Jimbaran, Bali