The Trans Metro Dewata (TMD) Integrated Highway Bus has officially stopped operating in Bali. An Instagram post on @transmetrodewata officially conveyed this statement on Wednesday, January 1, 2025.
“For many people, Trans Metro Dewata is not just a means of transportation, but also part of an effort to encourage an environmentally friendly lifestyle and reduce congestion in Bali. Now, the big question arises: what is the next step in Bali’s public transportation management? Will there be new solutions that are more effective and sustainable?” the caption on the upload reads.
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Various comments replied to the upload. Most regretted the decision.
“Why suddenly like this ?¿ … the ministry of transportation should review …. we the people of the lower middle-class lose (the bus),” said one netizen.
“Lol. What do I take to the office then? I was desperate to move to Tabanan because there was this bus. The government is disappointing. Now there will be more traffic jams. They said they wanted to reduce congestion. But the government stopped public transportation. I don’t even understand about the government,” another netizen commented.
Head of the Bali Provincial Transportation Office Samsi Gunarta said that public transportation services in Bali Province Trans Metro Dewata were stopped operating as of January 1, 2025. This is because there is no more clarity on budget support from the Indonesian Ministry of Transportation.
“We are preparing temporary handling measures until there is clarity on the operation of Trans Metro Dewata,” said Samsi Gunarta, as reported by Vivanews.
For information, TMD has officially operated since September 7, 2020 as one of the Ministry of Transportation’s programs through the Directorate General of Land Transportation with PT Satria Trans Jaya as the service operator. During its operation, TMD has served 6 corridors in the Denpasar, Badung, Gianyar, and Tabanan (Sarbagita) areas.
No subsidy from the Ministry of Transportation
Meanwhile, the Head of the Bali Provincial Transportation Agency (Dishub), I Gusti Wayan Samsi Gunarta, confirmed the termination of TMD operations. He said the termination of operations was because there was no longer a subsidy for TMD bus operations in the 2025 State Budget (APBN).
The TMD bus has been operating with subsidies from the Ministry of Transportation (Kemenhub) since 2020.
“Yes, that’s right (it was stopped). The reason is that there is no clarity on budget support from the Ministry of Transportation,” Samsi was quoted as saying by detikBali.
The Bali Provincial Transportation Agency and the Ministry of Transportation are currently negotiating continued funding for TMD until the Bali Provincial Government assumes full operation of the bus service.
“We are preparing temporary handling measures until there is clarity on the operation of Trans Metro Dewata. The handover will be done in stages by considering fiscal capacity,” he said.
The Bali Provincial Government itself has budgeted the purchase of services for one corridor in the 2025 APBD. However, Samsi added, time is needed for other aspects, such as institutionalization, funding, and capacity.
“A budget of around IDR 80 billion per year is needed for various financing components, such as corridor operations and management,” Samsi said.
