The name Sarbagita is taken from the places itserves Sanur, Batu Bulan, Gianyar and Kuta.

The first service just launched runs from Batu Bulan, along the bypass to Tohpati, Padang Galak, Sanur, Benoa, the main Dewa Ruci roundabout, the central parking area in Kuta. From Kuta the buses travel along Sunset road through Dewa Ruci along the bypass past the airport road and on to Jimbaran, Taman Mumbul and ending in Nusa Dua. Bus stops are located at many places along the way.

The service runs from 5 in the morning until 9 at night each day and buses run every 15 minutes.

At only Rp 3,500 per trip for an adult and Rp2,500 for students fares are very low compared to other forms of transport available and very different from the confines of the existing bemos.

The buses are spacious, air conditioned and very comfortable providing a far more relaxed way of getting through the heavy traffic of Bali’s main roads.

The 40 seat buses have a crew of two, a driver and conductor.

It is planned that 2 more routes serving Denpasar and Badung will be introduced by December, one will serve Kuta, Sudirman, Pesanggaran, Udayana University and Garuda Wisnu Kencana and a second connecting Kuta to Nusa Dua.

The number of routes is planned to increase and by 2016 there will be 17 services including 3 routes serving Ngurah Rai Airport, 11 routes serving commuters and 3 serving tourist sites.

Feeder routes are also to be introduced to take people from urban areas to the main transport routes, these will be serviced by 120 minibuses.

The logistics of setting up such a system are both extensive and challenging. Already many people have their own private transport. If people are to be persuaded to break their transport habits and leave their cars and motorcycles at home to catch the bus the public transport services must be highly reliable, comprehensive, well located and clearly marked.

It is essential that the Sarbagita bus stops are situated in the most appropriate places at the centres of transport (outside KFC and McDonalds in Sanur) and many bus stops will need to be moved to better locations as experienced is gained. Bemo routes will have to be altered to best support the Sarbagita services. The bemos must pick people up close to home and take them to the Sarbagita bus stops. There should always be bemos sitting at the the bus stops waiting to pick up passengers getting off the bus.

Already the buses are running and refinements such as the repositioning of bus stops is underway as experience is gained. Feeder services are now being organised to link urban areas to the main transport corridors. It will be an ongoing learning process requiring ongoing refinement and tuning.

It is early days yet and obviously a time of trial and error. Hopefully soon there will be an information campaign to tell people about the service, bus stops will be clearly marked and timetables situated at the bus stops.

It is also vitally important that the buses run on time, people should only have to wait 15 minutes and if several buses run close together then there will be a long wait for the next one.

The buses have been very quiet with only a few people using them during the first couple of weeks. This is fully understandable and it will take time to get people out of the habit of using motorcycles and into the habit of using the more people are starting to use Sarbagita. buses. At the start of the 3rd week noticeably

A publicity campaign would be helpful once all the bugs have been ironed out. Perhaps a period of free travel for 2 months would be a very effective way of “kick starting” the system.

This service is vital for the future of Bali and the relief of the ever worsening transport pressure we all suffer. The excellent efforts of the government of Bali need everyone’s full support.