Island administration to expand public bus services

The Bali administration will next year add a new route to the Trans Sarbagita public bus service, which is the province’s only public inter-city transportation system.

Launched to ease the island’s severe traffic congestion, the bus network will be expanded next year with a new route connecting downtown Denpasar with Udayana University and GWK (Garuda Wisnu Kencana) Cultural Park in Jimbaran.

“We are still waiting for 10 buses from the central government. Once all of those buses are here we will immediately begin operating the new route,” provincial transportation agency head Made Santha said on Thursday, adding that smaller buses would be used for the new route to adapt to the narrower and more congested roads in the downtown area.

Each of the air-conditioned buses can accommodate 25 seated and 15 standing passengers. The 15 buses that are currently serving the Trans Sarbagita first route, connecting Batubulan terminal in Gianyar with Kuta and Nusa Dua, can accommodate 36 seated and 20 standing passengers each.

“There will be no differences in ticket prices and operational hours,” Santha added.

The ticket price for the Trans Sarbagita service is Rp 3,500 (39 US cents) for regular passengers and Rp 2,500 for students. Operational hours are 5 a.m. until 9 p.m.

“Hopefully, the new route will be able to act as an alternative mode of transportation for Denpasar residents. The general public has been waiting for the opening of this downtown route,” he said.

One resident, Ni Putu Ayu Erni, said that she was just one of many people eagerly awaiting the start of the new service.

“It will save me the hassle of riding a motorbike or driving a car,” she said.

As an employee of the Nusa Dua-based Bali Tourism Development Corporation (BTDC), she said that she had been a regular user of the Trans Sarbagita service since its official launch on Aug. 18.

The public bus service has gradually won its place in the hearts of Balinese. Trans Sarbagita executive Krisbiyanto disclosed that the existing Batubulan-Nusa Dua service moved around 1,400 passengers
per week.

“Half of them are regular passengers who use the service on a daily basis to reach their workplaces,” he said, adding that foreign visitors had also begun to use the service.

The provincial administration disclosed that the final form of Trans Sarbagita would comprise 17 routes connecting strategic points in Denpasar, Badung, Gianyar and Tabanan.

Another Trans Sarbagita executive, Arsana Laga, stated that the existing route should increase its load to improve the route’s contribution to easing traffic congestion.

“The load factor, or passenger rate, is still at 22 percent. We have set a target of 30 percent for 2012,” he said.