Bali · Edition 9 September 2026
Bali public transport
You need a scooter. Bali has no rail, and its six bus routes charge IDR 4,400 a ride ($0.25) but stop between 18:30 and 19:00. Ride-hailing covers short trips at IDR 12–18,000 for three kilometres. An Indonesian licence needs a stay permit, which most arrivals do not hold. Figures are September 2026.
Current at 9 September 2026. Dollars at IDR 17,650 to US$1, the rate of 8 September 2026.
Everything runs on two wheels, because nothing else runs
Transport settles moving to Bali for most people. There is no train and no useful bus after dark. The island took 7.05 million arrivals in 2025 and has no rail. The airport-to-Canggu corridor carries about 150,000 people and 80,000 vehicles a day, all of it on the road (The Bali Sun, 2 September 2026).
Two groundbreakings, and no track
The US$20bn Bali urban rail broke ground in September 2024. By 11 February 2026 construction had visibly stopped, with Chinese and Korean funding in doubt (The Bali Sun). Phase one was nominally 2028.
A second plan landed on 2 September 2026. PT KAI would run a 12-kilometre battery-electric tram from the airport through Kuta and Seminyak to Canggu: 30 minutes end to end, 60,000 passengers a day. Groundbreaking is planned for March 2027 and Canggu for 2029. Plan around neither.
Six bus routes exist, and the last one leaves at 19:00
Trans Metro Dewata is the whole public network. Suspended in January 2025 for funding, it resumed on 20 April 2025 with 75 daily services against 105 (The Bali Sun, 17 April 2025).
| Route | First bus | Last bus |
|---|---|---|
| Kuta–Pesiapan | 04:30 | 18:33 |
| Ubung–Airport | 05:00 | 18:49 |
| Ubung–Sanur | 05:00 | 18:53 |
| Ubung–Monkey Forest | 05:00 | 18:30 |
| Kuta–Polytechnic | 05:00 | 18:36 |
| Kuta–Nusa Dua | 05:00 | 19:00 |
The fare is IDR 4,400 ($0.25) flat, one way, residents and visitors alike. You pay in the MitraDarat app or by QRIS. Headways run 17 to 19 minutes. Sanur and Nusa Dua add free electric shuttles. It is cheap, and will not bring you home from dinner.
Ride-hailing is cheap, and your pick-up can still be refused
Gojek and Grab are the defaults. Maxim undercuts both. Blue Bird's own app gets a real metered taxi.
| Trip | Fare | USD |
|---|---|---|
| 3 km, GoRide motorbike | IDR 12–18,000 | $0.68–1.02 |
| 10 km, GoCar | IDR 60–90,000 | $3.40–5.10 |
| Airport to Seminyak or Canggu, car | about IDR 300,000 | $17 |
Those are 2026 app fares (Nomadic Matt). Numbeo Bali puts a taxi start at IDR 8–15,000 and IDR 8,000 a kilometre (September 2026).
The catch is local. Banjar taxi co-operatives still block app pick-ups in parts of Canggu, Ubud and Uluwatu. After a drivers' protest in January 2025, the governor agreed quotas, village registration of drivers and local priority at ranks (The Bali Sun, 26 February 2026). The apps stay legal island-wide, and your pick-up may still be refused.
Taxis are safe in an app and a gamble off the street
A Blue Bird booked in the app runs the meter. Fake Blue Birds do not, and they work the resort strips (The Bali Sun, 16 January 2024). Cars flagged on the street quote a flat price and negotiate. That is the norm, not a scam, but the quote lands above the app fare.
Yes you need a licence, and most arrivals cannot get one
Indonesia is a 1968 Vienna Convention party. You legally need an International Driving Permit with your home licence, covering the class you ride. A car-only licence does not cover a 125cc scooter, and 125cc is most of the fleet (The Bali Sun, 19 November 2025).
An Indonesian licence is a SIM. Tourists cannot get one, and neither can E33 Second Home holders on a visit visa. A SIM goes only to KITAS or KITAP holders. Fees are small: SIM C IDR 100,000 ($5.67), SIM A IDR 120,000 ($6.80), plus medical and psychological tests at IDR 75–150,000 ($4.25–8.50). Since 2024 you also need active BPJS Kesehatan cover (Kompas, 11 August 2026).
The money is not the gate. The stay permit is. The Indonesian remote worker KITAS is the route most arrivals take, and without one there is no SIM.
A theory and a practical test apply, and for most nationalities nothing converts a foreign licence untested. CHECK No conversion list is published, so that rests on applicant reports. A SIM lasts five years but is tied to the permit. CHECK No rule covers what happens when the permit ends.
Get the 1968 IDP with the motorcycle class ticked before you fly. It costs almost nothing at home. Travel and medical policies are routinely voided without a valid licence for the class, and a crash without cover is a five-figure problem.
Most people ride anyway. Here is the exposure. Police run checkpoints on Jalan Raya Canggu, Sunset Road, Ubud and Uluwatu. The fine for no licence is up to IDR 1,000,000 ($57) or four months, and IDR 250,000 ($14) for no helmet (UU 22/2009). On-the-spot settlements are common. CHECK No settlement figure is published, because that payment is not official.
Police recorded 142 crashes involving foreigners in 2024, down 35% on 2023 (The Bali Sun, 19 November 2025). CHECK The 2025 count was called lower with no number given, so 142 is the newest published figure.
What a scooter and a car really cost
| Item | Price | USD |
|---|---|---|
| Honda Scoopy, per day | IDR 70–100,000 | $4.00–5.65 |
| Scooter, per month | IDR 800,000–1.5M | $45–85 |
| Petrol, per litre | IDR 13–14,000 | $0.74–0.79 |
| Car with driver, per day | IDR 600–900,000 | $34–51 |
| New compact car | IDR 400–560M | $22,700–31,700 |
Rentals are balimotorbikerental.com asks, September 2026; car prices are Numbeo Bali. CHECK The monthly scooter range comes from shop quotes, not a rate card. Almost nobody buys a car. Budget IDR 1.2M a month ($68) on a scooter, IDR 5M ($283) once you use cars.
Walking works in two places on the whole island
Two: the Sanur promenade and the Seminyak beach path. Everywhere else you ride, coffee included. Cycling works in Sanur and on the Ubud back roads. Umalas, Pererenan and the Bukit have no usable pavement.
Traffic is the constraint, not distance. Canggu to Seminyak is six kilometres and can take thirty-five minutes. Three kilometres can take over thirty at peak. CHECK No traffic index covers Bali, so both are observation, not measurement. Uluwatu's South Ring Road broke ground on 27 July 2026, and Ubud sits an hour from the airport.
Pick the address for the ride. Where foreigners actually live in Bali sorts the eight areas by rent and by road, and Bali, honestly gives the airport time for each.
What this page does not cover
- The SIM application in order: the two Satpas offices, the documents including the 2024 BPJS proof, and both tests
- The transport line inside a monthly budget at three levels — IDR 1.2M, 1.5M and 5M ($68, $85, $283)
- What the wet season does to the roads, month by month, and the March 2026 collapses near Ubud
- The five situations where Bali honestly does not work, one being that you will not ride
All of it is in Bali, honestly — 21 pages, $29. See what's inside
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