Bali needs a monorail system: Tourist Industry
Bali’s transportation infrastructure is on a collision course with itself. The more people, the more cars and motorbikes, creating more traffic, meaning slower travel speeds. The ‘Association of the Indonesian Tours & Travel Agencies’ Bali chapter, reckons a monorail system for the southern area of Bali is a the answer. Jakarta has started building a monorail system, like Bangkok. This subject is one I’ve touched on before.
Having lived in Seminyak for 4.5 years, I’ve got a pretty good idea of what the traffic is like here. A trip to Kuta should not take much longer than 10-15 minutes. There are some hell trips though, including the Bypass to Nusa Dua after dark, Denpasar at night, Jl. Raya Kerobokan during rush hour etc. At those times its crazy, with traffic density at dangerously high levels and people’s patience strained.
My 3 step plan for Bali’s transportation system featured an elevated light railway / monorail, electric buses and horse & buggies.
Here’s more from the Jakarta Post.
Bali needs monorail immediately, says tourist operators
DENPASAR (Antara): The Association of the Indonesian Tours & Travel Agencies’ Bali chapter urged the Bali administration to immediately construct monorail as part of the effort to attract tourists to the resort
Chairman of association’s Bali chapter Al Purwo said Saturday that the construction of monorail line was to prevent further worse of traffic congestions there.
“We need to promote potential tourist destinations. Worsening traffic jams may affect tourist arrivals,” Purwa was quoted by Antara news agency as saying.
He added that traffic congestions along roads in provincial capital of Denpasar and its surrounding areas had become worse and worse.
Bali provincial administration had introduced its plan to develop monorail, which will serve an airport to many tourist destinations on the island. But the administration had not followed its own idea.
The great thing about an elevated light railway is you can route it over existing buildings, no matter how dense the layout, thereby minimizing travel times. A while back I was in Las Vegas, which also has a very handy elevated monorail system on the Strip.
Whenever I got on road trips the first and last hour are always the worst. Trying to get out of the Kuta / Seminyak / Sanur / Kerobokan / Denpasar area is a pain. After that I often have a choice of routes, depending on where I’m going and can enjoy quieter roads. To help the Balinese get over the problem of building structures over the height of a temple, the monorail company could donate a fixed sum to each local banjar it passed through. I’m sure increased revenue would make that problem melt away.
By Nick | Permalink
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A monorail would be ridiculous in Kuta. There’s no room in Kuta anyway. Kuta is congested, but so what. Taxis are cheap and distances are short.
Monorail in Bali, In which lifetime, They cant even grasp the concept of a flyover, An iota of urban road planning would change the traffic landscape enormously.
“getting all the beachfront resorts to get behind it”
I’m sure they would like to be in front of it so as not to spoil the view..
” (like Australians) believe they have a “gods given right” to self transport. ”
An obvious profound understanding of ” culture”
LMFAO
Wow Nick, I was under impression from this blog that you where somewhat of a progressive - a monorail in Bali???????? That\’s f\’n insane. Hate to agree with ET but he\’s on spot - a little planning would go a long way. Getting rid of most of the taxis and having a bus trolly from NRIA-S\’yak along with some added rule enforcement would be a start. More is not better, better is better, somethign to think about as JKT plans to shove another 4-5 million visitors onto the island. Golf courses-helicopters-waterparks-nonstop discos-elephant tours-whatever, because evidently no one\’s looking and no one cares.
“Getting the locals to use the system would be the next challenge as they (like Australians) believe they have a “gods given right” to self transport. They love the “freedom & independence” that transport gives them as much as we do here.”
Maybe travel somewhere other than Bali. People the world over love using cars. No tourists other than broke backpackers will use a monorail. People use public transport when they can’t afford cabs. Cabs are ridiculously cheap in Bali. Before you bring up ‘what about the environment’ - no-one cares about the environment in Bali. It’s filthy and polluted.
Scooters are the preferred mode of transport for locals who can’t afford cars. And tourists will hire cars, or take the “transport transport” option–no tourist who can afford to fly to Bali is that poor to take a bloody monorail!
Hi Nick,
Being a frequent visitor Bali I am very aware of the increasing traffic problems in the Tuban/Kuta/Legian/Seminyak area.
It’s funny that while having lunch at Zanzibar Restaurant on the beach recently with friends the topic of a mono rail system to service both locals & tourists was raised.
The conversation concluded it would be a genuine benefit to locals & tourists alike (as long as it is affordable for locals to use).
What route/s route it would take poses the most difficult questions to be asked & considered.
From what I have seen of Kuta’s development over the years (first visit 27 years ago) the commercial buildings have basically extended out from the beachfront.
The beach has always been the central focus of tourists in that time & along with this focus the retail business development has proliferated along & out from the coast up to Seminyak.
Ideally I believe a system that ran parallel to the beach foreshore which begin at the airport & finished at JL. Dayna Pura in Seminyak would service the greater portion of tourists staying in the area.
The issue with this route would be getting all the beachfront resorts to get behind it. I foresee a lot of resistance by them to this idea.
This route although catering for tourists would not be of value to the local community as they reside in the outlying ares away from the coastline.
Perhaps a separate “spur” that travelled a route from Kuta central all the way through to Denpaser that tracked through the more densely populated residential areas would take more of the local population off the access roads into the Kuta area.
Getting the locals to use the system would be the next challenge as they (like Australians) believe they have a “gods given right” to self transport. They love the “freedom & independence” that transport gives them as much as we do here.
They could force the locals to use the system by placing a ban on “unauthorised” bikes & cars travelling within the Kuta central business district. This would enforce the need for the workers in that area to commute via the rail system.
I would recommend the fare on the “coastal” tourism route would be at higher price to help offset a less expensive “inland” system for locals.
Perhaps the local authorities would be better served by focusing more on the reasons as to why the traffic chaos occurs within this precinct i.e. roads that are inadequate for the amount of users & roads that are occasionally “patched” but never repaired thus causing constant road works & closures that exacerbate the congestion.
I would support this type of rail system as long as it was electrified so as not to add to the growing pollution in the area.
Oh shit… a constant supply of electricity…now that’s a whole new debate!
Cheers
Russ