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A response to Dr Lim Mah Hui on the Penang Transport Master Plan

This article on the Penang Transport Master Plan (PTMP) is in response to Dr Lim Mah Hui’s letter to the editor ‘Road to folly - will building more roads solve traffic congestion?’ published in Malaysiakini on May 18, 2016.

The concerns raised by Dr Lim, a member of the Penang Island City Council (MBPP). against building more roads to solve traffic congestion are perfectly rationale. In his article, Dr Lim cautioned against the prospect of “induced demand” for building highways in the PTMP, where travellers will be attracted back to using private vehicles on the roads because of reduced congestion and increased road supply.

However, there are several key factors which I humbly beg to differ on the perspectives raised by Dr Lim against promoting car usage and public transport at the same time.

The case of road construction

Firstly, the construction new roads and highways in Penang Island is absolutely critical for the modernisation of Penang’s obsolete road infrastructure left by the British in the 20th Century. On first sight, this action of building more roads might seem contradictory against the Penang state government’s very own slogan of ‘Moving People Not Cars’.

However, rather than having the mentality of ‘promoting car usage’, the construction of new highways can be justified to increase accessibility and connectivity to areas which previously have inadequate road access.

An example can be drawn from the township of Air Itam and Farlim, which developments in recent years have led to an increasing urban population and density in terms of residents and job opportunities.

However, there is only one main access road serving the township, branching out from the Greenlane arterial road at present day. This insufficient road capacity is clearly reflected on the unacceptable traffic congestions which are frequently experienced during peak times on a typical day.

Making matters worse, it is also important to point out that businesses and freight transport relies heavily on adequate and reliable road networks in order to function efficiently. The construction of new roads are also crucial for economic growth in the state, businesses and sustaining urban life. Hence, a holistic assessment and wider economic benefits of the project has to be taken into account, rather than solely focusing on the behaviour of personal travellers alone.

In addition to that, the performance of road based public transport systems such as buses also heavily depends on the reliability of road networks and reduced congestion. It will not be practical to presume that buses will be able to run faster, punctually and reliably under present day road conditions. By opting against these key road constructions as proposed by the PTMP, the attractiveness of buses will further deteriorate over time due to worsening traffic congestion.

On the other hand, the Penang state government will have increased flexibility to implement more efficient traffic management strategies after these additional road spaces are created. For example, traffic lanes can now be reallocated to public transport such as priority bus lanes, improving bus reliability, and also without compromising traffic flows and congestion on existing road links at the same time.

Despite these arguments, it is essential to state that the PTMP will only be acceptable if the Penang State Government assures that these proposed highways will be the last major road construction in Penang Island. The key point of these highways is to unlock areas which previously have poor accessibility, as well as upgrading Penang Island’s obsolete road infrastructure, not necessarily promoting car use.

Comparison with other cities

On the contrary, similar concepts on the case supporting road construction in Penang Island does not apply in the capital city of Kuala Lumpur and its surrounding areas due to differing circumstances. Kuala Lumpur and Selangor should stop building new roads and highways because the accessibility and connectivity in terms of road access between zones is already satisfactory.

Not only that, it is also too simplistic to pinpoint the construction of roads as the one and only factor causing the reduction of public transit modal share in Kuala Lumpur over time. Rather, a series of factors such as poor design, integration and station accessibility must be examined in the failure of the two LRT lines (Smart and Putra) and the KL monorail in achieving its expected ridership targets.

Moving on, the case study of Houston, Texas in its failure to reduce traffic congestion by building more roads was also highlighted by Dr Lim in his article. However, it is misleading and inappropriate to compare Penang with Houston on transportation policies due to the different nature and characteristics of the two cities.

For example, Houston was founded during the automobile era which its infrastructure is focused for automobile use with low density and urban sprawl. At present day, above 95 percent of trips made in Houston is done by car, which is the highest in the world (Newman & Kenworthy, 2015). These factors create an automobile ‘lock-in’ scenario for the city, which makes the provision of public transportation more costly and inefficient due to its larger area.

Conversely, Penang Island has a higher population density relative to Houston, as well as the confined land area on the island prevents the potential for urban sprawl. With that in mind, the impact of the proposed Pan Island Link (PIL1) in terms of discouraging and restricting the modal switch towards public transport will not be as significant as warned.

Nevertheless, both highway and rail construction will be able to mutually coexist as a package in the PTMP as long as the door-to-door speeds between car use and public transport are comparable. I believe this can be assured in the PTMP as the Penang state government will be developing both new road and rail links (LRT) at the same time, instead of favouring one mode over another.

‘Yes’ to PTMP

In conclusion, the modernisation of road transport networks in Penang Island is crucial in meeting the challenge and needs of the 21st Century. A lack of reliable road transportation infrastructure can certainly constrain economic growth and accessibility in a city, and thus should not be completely neglected.

It will be a false exaggeration to envisage the PTMP being a turning point for Penang towards facilitating a car-dependent society. As long as road construction is not set as the main priority in meeting transport needs, it is unlikely that Penang will follow the footsteps of an automobile dependent megacity of constructing endless spaghetti of super highways.

Overall, a well-established rail public network takes a longer time to construct relative to roads, while demand for transport is steadily increasing. Hence, the urgency of meeting road transport demand has to be addressed in the short term, while also focusing on the long term provision and transition into sustainable modes of transport such as walking, cycling and public transport.


ROGER TEOH is a postgraduate student studying for an MSc in Transport Engineering at Imperial College London & University College London.

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