Worried Walkers Part II – why are we walking less?
One thing I’ve noticed over the past decade or so is that people in Bali are walking less and less. Most people will jump on their motorbike to make even a 20m trip to the local warung. You can hardly blame them though – people are hardly encouraged to walk. Apart from the state of the sidewalks, few of them are covered meaning that you are constantly cooking in the sun.
Before the advent of vehicles Balinese used to walk everywhere and over incredibly long distances. I have talked to people in their 60s who said that they used to walk 15 to 20 kilometres to get ceremonies, carrying religious paraphernalia including barong and gamelan instruments. These days, people travel on motorbikes, in cars or even on trucks to get to ceremonies. An extreme example of this seen recently is a cremation tower not carried on the shoulders of men but on a trailer like a Christmas float!
Fortunately, a project has started in Denpasar and Sanur to improve the sidewalks and converting some of the streets into paved pedestrian-only zones. Plans for tree-lined streets seem to be doomed temporarily however because word has that coconut trees will be the choice of flora – hardly sheltering and with the real risk of falling coconuts potentially hazardous to both pedestrians and motorists.
What Indonesia is in desperate need of is a decent, efficient transportation system, not only to make it easier and cheaper for people to get around, but also to reduce the pressure on the environment. The problem at the moment is that the government makes it very undesirable to walk anywhere. People need incentives, good reasons for walking, and certainly having public transport that is cheaper and quicker than your own transport will be motivation for many.
For the time being at least, it is still pretty undesirable to be a pedestrian in Bali. Basically, being a pedestrian means that you need to have to be a bit gung-ho but also have your wits about you – how to be more like a Balinese pedestrian next issue…
