Bali needs integrated transport system

By Agnes Winarti 

Published in Bali Daily/The Jakarta Post Tuesday, April 23 2013

Focusing on developing an integrated multi-mode public transportation system for the growing major cities and regencies across the archipelago, including Denpasar and Badung in southern Bali, the Transportation Ministry expects the regional administrations to take a larger role in developing their own sustainable urban transport systems.

“At present, Bali still has very limited public transportation. Nonetheless, we have initiated the Trans Sarbagita [in 2011] and we expect it to develop and integrate with railways and intelligent transportation systems to reduce traffic congestion,” Deputy Transportation Minister Bambang Susantono said on Monday on the sidelines of the Indonesia Environmentally Sustainable Transport Forum, a pre-event for the seventh Asia Environmentally Sustainable Transport Forum on April 23-25 that will be held in Nusa Dua.

“We understand that this requires behavioral change, which is not easy. We are currently at the stage of a pre-feasibility study to develop the railways, which would both connect the entire island and its urban areas,” he added.

An integrated multi-mode public transportation system involving buses and railways is believed to be the most sustainable public transport solution.

“In major cities, with more than 1 million population, an integrated system between urban railways and rapid transit buses like the Trans Solo, Trans Semarang, Trans Bandung, Trans Kawanu and Trans Sarbagita systems, is the most feasible to implement sustainable transport,” Bambang said.

Bali’s capital city, Denpasar, and its neighboring regency, Badung, are home to a rapidly growing population, respectively 788,445 people and 543,332, according to the national census in 2010. Denpasar Mayor Ida Bagus Rai Dharmawijaya Mantra once estimated that during the daytime, around 1.5 million people travelled around Denpasar.

The ministry’s director general of railways, Tundjung Inderawan, stated that either a monorail or light train were viewed as the most feasible transportation systems to be developed for Bali.

“Either the monorail or the light train, it must be integrated with the bus routes, to Ngurah Rai airport and Benoa harbor, as well as [tourist destinations] like Nusa Dua, Kuta, Seminyak and Sanur,” said Tundjung.

“Basically, the local administration has positively welcomed this plan. But the administration does not stand alone. Wide acceptance from local society is the key to make this plan work,” emphasized Tundjung, who estimated that the railway plan for Bali might still need another five years to be realized.

Meanwhile, Bambang also highlighted the urgency for the local administrations to take a greater degree of responsibility in developing their own urban transport system.

“In principle, the development of public transport is the responsibility of the local administrations. As the central government, we will help them initiate the system, provide technical support and further reward them, for example with bus grants, if the administrations display serious commitment,” said Bambang.

Nationwide, there have been 14 major cities developing their own BRT (bus rapid transport) system: Jakarta, Tangerang, Solo, Semarang, Bandarlampung, Palembang, Yogyakarta, Badung, Bogor, Pekanbaru, Gorontalo, Batam, Manado and Ambon.

The development of integrated mass transportation systems for cities around the archipelago is part of the government’s effort to fulfill its target of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 26 to 41 percent by 2020, a pledge made by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono at the G20 Pittsburgh Summit back in 2009. Indonesia has been viewed as a relatively major emitter of greenhouse gases due to its heavy dependency on fossil fuels, especially in the transportation sector.

According to data from the International Energy Agency (IEA) in 2011, the transport sector produces 30 percent of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions and 23 percent of the world’s CO2 emissions. Land transportation contributes the largest amount at 89 percent, followed by sea transport (6 percent), air transport (4 percent) and railways (1 percent).

President of Indonesia’s Transportation Society, Danang Parikesit, stated that the ambitious target would only be achieved if the government implemented integrated policies in the sectors of transport and energy.

“The 26 percent reduction in emissions is almost impossible if Indonesia does not create joint-policies in the transport and energy sectors. The government must set a clear plan so that when it decides to reduce fossil fuel subsidies, it will simultaneously boost investment in the transportation sector. The government needs to increase the fiscal capacity of the local administrations so that they can use more of their regional budget to self-finance the development of their urban transport sectors,” said Danang.