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ourists will abandon Bali as a favored destination unless the provincial government solves the island’s traffic problems, a tourism observer says.

Bagus Sudibya, chairman of the Bali and Nusa Tenggara Chapter of the Association of Indonesian Travel Agents (ASITA), said that thousands of foreign tourists had lodged complaints about traffic while on holiday in Bali.

“The island’s traffic has been so bad and uncontrollable that congestion occurs almost hourly on the main streets leading to Kuta, Denpasar, Nusa Dua and other popular tourist destinations, including vital places such as Ngurah Rai International Airport,” Sudibya said.

Sudibya said the provincial government had to make a serious effort to solve the island’s traffic problems.

“Bali will soon lose its charm as an international tourist destination unless we can deal with the poor traffic conditions. World tourists might easily turn to other destinations in neighboring countries,” Sudibya said.

Made Santha, head of the province’s traffic agency, said that local authorities were facing difficulties in solving the traffic problems.

“It is predictable that traffic will get worse and worse since the number of vehicles — cars and motorcycles — keeps increasing, while the length of roads remain the same,” Santha said.

According to the Central Statistics Agency’s (BPS) Bali office, vehicle ownership on the island was growing an average of 12.42 percent a year while new roads and supporting infrastructure grew at only 2.28 percent.

Bali’s 3.9 million people used 1.55 million vehicles in 2009, comprised of motorcycles (71.81 percent), private cars (19.39 percent), trucks and cargo vehicles (9.1 percent) and public transportation vehicles (0.88 percent), according to the agency.

“People drive their own vehicles and motorcycles instead of using public transportation. This condition has escalated traffic problems,” Santha said.

The World Bank previously recommended that the provincial government develop an integrated mass public transportation system to ease traffic.

According to the World Bank’s 2008 survey, around 70 percent of the vehicles in Bali should be used for public transportation.

Wayan Suarna, an environmental expert from Udayana University in Denpasar, said that the provincial government should not blame local residents for using private cars and motorcycles instead of public transportation.

“We do not have adequate or effective public transportation. People need to go to work and school,” he said.

Suarna said that the island’s horrendous traffic had already caused serious environmental problems, such as air and noise pollution.

“An increasing number of vehicles will certainly produce higher emissions,” Suarna said.

Separately, I Wayan Suardana, executive director of environmental NGO Walhi’s Bali’s chapter, said that the island’s natural and environmental conditions must be the first priority when designing transportation policies .

“Bali is a small island with a limited capacity to house its skyrocketing population, cars and motorcycles,” Suardana said.

More than 2.4 million foreign visitors and 3.6 million domestic visitors come to Bali every peak season and create environmental, social and economic problems, he said.

The provincial administration faced a difficult choice of building more roads to ease traffic or preserving the island’s natural beauty, Suardana added.

“Strict control of vehicle ownership and sustainable development and tourism policies might become solutions to the problem.”