0 Sarbagita takes occasional route change to avoid traffic jams

For those of you travelling on the Trans Sarbagita buses, be sure to bring along enough patience for the buses’ occasionally changing route as they strive to avoid the worsening traffic jams around the Dewa Ruci roundabout. Although the island’s first public mass transport company has pledged to serve its passengers with reliable routes and tariffs since its hit the roads in 2011, apparently it’s still a daily struggle for Sarbagita to keep operating along its published routes. 

Known to pass Sentral Parkir Kuta and Carrefour before heading to its final destination in Nusa Dua, the buses on the route connecting Batubulan and Nusa Dua sometimes have to take temporary measures to avoid unbearable macet (traffic jams) at the Dewa Ruci roundabout, which is still undergoing major construction. Such measures have actually been underway for several months, though. One Sarbagita passenger, Awya, wrote in his wordpress blog: “Sarbagita is the acronym for ‘Sabar Ya Kita’ [let’s be patient].” 

He recalled a Sarbagita journey he took last October, when he had to continue on foot for quite a distance because the bus did not pass at its regular stop outside Carrefour on Jl. Sunset Road. Sarbagita is actually the official acronym for Denpasar, Badung, Gianyar and Tabanan, the names of capital city and regencies on the island that will be connected by this public transport system by 2019. “The measures depend on the daily situation. We’re not missing out sections of the route every day, and when we do, it’s only for an hour or two. 

Only when there’s heavy congestion at the Dewa Ruci roundabout, then we have to temporarily avoid the Sentral Parkir Kuta and Carrefour stops,” head of the Trans Sarbagita operator, Ida Bagus Parsa, told Bali Daily on Saturday, adding that the temporary measures were taken especially during the Christmas and New Year holidays. Dewa Ruci underpass project executive officer Hendro Satrio asked the public to remain patient and promised that such heavy congestion would be reduced by the time the underpass was completed in May. 

“We are now 80 percent complete. All construction work, especially if undertaken at an intersection like Dewa Ruci, of course, would cause some traffic jams. That’s unavoidable. However, the escalating congestion recently was not entirely our blame,” said Hendro, citing the surge in domestic and foreign visitor arrivals during the Christmas and New Year’s holidays over the past two weeks, which had been a major contributing factor to the already chaotic traffic. 

“We hope the public remain patient. On May 20, this project is targeted for completion. As the underpass starts functioning, this area will not be as congested as it is now,” said Hendro, stating that the project was in its final stages, including molding of the underpass flooring and walls, building of the road separators, and the installation of water pumps, road lighting and landscaping. Ida Bagus Kade Subhiksu, head of Bali tourism office, stated that Bali welcomed 2,888,864 foreign visitors and around 5 million domestic tourists in 2012. 

The agency is still waiting for data from the transportation and immigration agencies regarding the surge of visitors during Christmas and New Year.

source : bali daily