THE endless criticism against Penang’s plan to build more highways to ease traffic congestion on the island is not off the mark, said urban planners, who believe this is not a long-term solution to the traffic problems.

What the island needs instead is an efficient, accessible and affordable public transportation system, they said.

Universiti Sains Malaysia’s transportation, traffic planning and geographic information system (GIS) lecturer Abdul Ghapar Othman said by building more roads, traffic congestion would ease for a short period but ultimately, result in more private vehicles on the road.

The ratio of the number of cars to the length of roads has increased, which means the road length per car has shrunk, leading to congestion, Ghapar said.

“We had more roads (length) than cars previously. Now, it is the opposite. With the congestion, you also have reduced travel speed.

“While building more roads still allows you to move people, it’s only a short-term solution,” he told The Malaysian Insight.

Presently, there are more cars and motorcycles than people in Penang. In 2017, the state’s population stood at more than 1.7 million, but there were 2.54 million private vehicle numbers. There were 1.4 million motorcycles and 1.13 million cars.

The population, the state government estimates, will grow at an annual rate of 1.5%-2.5% to reach 2.3 million by 2030.

To solve its worsening traffic conditions because of the jump in population and road vehicles in recent years, the state introduced the Penang Transport Master Plan (PTMP), which has been received with varied response.

The plan proposes new highways, bypasses, an undersea tunnel, a LRT (light rail transit) system, monorails, trams, bus rapid transit (BRT) and a sky cab between the island and the mainland.

So far, Penang has secured conditional environmental impact assessment (EIA) approvals for four roads, including the Pan Island Link 1 (PIL1), to the chagrin of groups like Penang Forum, Consumers’ Association of Penang and environmental group Sahabat Alam Malaysia.

Not a long-term solution

Civil societies and environmental groups have long argued that the building of more highways would be detrimental to the environmental landscape of Penang island, without great benefit in the long run.

Ghapar, who lives in Kepala Batas on the mainland and travels to USM on the island for work, said a decade ago, the Penang Bridge underwent a widening project to increase its width from four lanes to six.

When the project was completed in late 2009, traffic was smooth, but just for a while, he said.

“It turned out that many who had travelled by motorcycle to escape the bumper-to-bumper crawl started to drive after the widening.

“So the jam eventually come back.”

Ghapar said it was a mistake not to provide the bridge with a bus lane or rail line when it was built in the 1980s, stressing that a good public transportation system was the way forward.

The government should not let the future generation go through the same problem with traffic jams, he said, urging it to invest in public transportation such as a well-planned urban rail system.

“Although we won’t see immediate results, it is the long-term solution.”

Urban planner Cheng Hui Lin also echoed Ghapar and the civil society groups’ call for better public transport and not more roads.

“If we look at developed countries, they are not building new highways, but improving their public transport,” said Cheng.

As an island, Penang does not have much land for building more roads, leading to possible impact on the environment, Cheng said.

“The focus should be on reducing the car volume. Trams, LRT and other modes should be looked at for the long term.”

She said that despite some reservations from activists, an LRT system for Penang was a good idea, considering how well-received it is in Kuala Lumpur.

“I think trams are good, like those that serve Melbourne. They are more subtle and friendly,” said Cheng, adding that other options such as urban cable cars would also serve as an environmentally friendly alternative. – April 25, 2019.