Do we need more roads in Penang?

Do we need more roads in Penang? (6 February 2013)


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Does Penang need more roads? I am writing this in response to plans by the state government plan to build a few new expressways on Penang Island, and to concerns by some members of the public and non-government organisations over the plan. Among the expressways proposed include a 4.2 km inner ring road connecting Gurney Drive with the Tun Dr Lim Chong Eu Expressway, a 4.6 km tunnel-road linking Paya Terubong and Farlim to the inner ring road, and an undersea tunnel between Gurney Drive on Penang Island and Bagan Ajam on Penang Mainland.

I fully agree that the state government should improve public transport, I also feel there isn't a proper transportation masterplan in Penang, unlike other cities such as Singapore or Hong Kong. On the other hand, I do believe the state government is working hard to improve public transport, and as members of the public, we should throw our support behind the government's work. Having said that, it is only right that we voice our concern First of all, a transportation masterplan. We need a plan that forms our roadmap to manage the growth of Penang without simply throwing ad hoc solutions such as "built more expressways", "introduce trams" or "introduce monorail".

On the other hand, I do not agree that building more roads will only encourage people to buy more cars, and this in turn will lead to an increase in traffic volume." In my opinion, it is a dangerous assumption. If there are studies to show that building more roads will lead to more congestion, show us the study, where was it made, when, in which city, and is the city's transportation issues compatible with ours. We cannot and should not make blanket statements that building any road will lead to more cars.

Tun Dr Lim Chong Eu Expressway, approaching Magazine Road Ghaut junction (29 November 2012)


When we say "build more roads", we should be clear what sort of roads we are talking about. There are basically two types: the non-grade separated and grade separated. Non-grade separated roads are city roads with at-grade intersections and junctions. These include the district distributors such as Green Lane, Scotland Road, Jalan Air Itam and Gottlieb Road. If you are referring to such roads, my response would be, "No, we have more than enough of these."

On the other hand, grade separated roads are those with interchanges that allow unimpended traffic flow. They are known by different names in different countries: expressways, motorways, freeways, Autobahn. The total length of our grade separated roads is the measurement of how developed we are. If each kilometer of grade-separated road has to serve a high number of people, those roads are going to get highly congested, and our development will be impeded. Divide the Penang population by the total length of its grade-separated roads. Divide also the size of Penang by the same. We should strive to reduce these numbers, not maintain or increase them, and the only way to achieve that is to build more grade-separated roads.

What can we learn from the "developed cities" in the region, cities such as Singapore and Hong Kong? Singapore, for one, has a lot more expressways than we do. A lot more, without taking into account its other modes of mass transit dispersal.

According to a study made by the past Penang State Government¹, Penang Island lacks a clear road hierachy. Unlike Hong Kong and Singapore, Penang Island does not have expressways and bypasses that take the traffic in and out of the city during peak hours. Instead, roads meant as district distributors, among them Green Lane, Scotland Road, Jalan Air Itam and Gottlieb Road, are required to function as expressways and bypasses.

That's where the problem lies. It's like forcing a child to do a grown-up's work. The congestion is not because there are too many expressways, but rather because there are too few of the roads we should have. The total length of expressways in Penang is not enough to support our present population density. When we have so many people living close together, we need a system to move them quickly, and we cannot continue relying on the district distributors to do the job. Also we cannot further overburden the district distributors with adding to its space at-grade mass transits such as trams.

On Penang Island, the only grade-separated road is the Tun Dr Lim Chong Eu Expressway. And it is not fully grade-separated, being so only between Cecil Street Ghaut and the Sungai Nibong Interchange. The rest of the Tun Dr Lim Chong Eu Expressway is not grade separated, and as you can observe, the non grade separated sections are the ones where we see slow down. (Indeed traffic also slows down at the Penang Bridge, but that again is due to the expressway not being able to support the load of traffic.)

What Penang needs are expressways that function as expressways. Such roads must not be allowed to play the role of district distributors already played by the existing main roads. Expressways should be limited-access roads with numbered interchanges. Traffic should enter such roads via the specific interchanges, not out of people's driveway. We need such expressways to connect all the main townships on Penang, including Paya Terubong, Balik Pulau, Batu Ferringhi, Teluk Kumbar and Batu Maung. Without such expressways to quickly move traffic about, the traffic congestion woes will persist, with or without more cars.

I disagree that building more roads will encourage people from buying more cars. Building roads - particularly expressways - doesn't encourage people from buying cars. People buy cars not because the government build more roads; they buy cars because they want cars and they need cars. There are many ways to reduce congestion, including absurdly draconion ones which I shall mention below.

Here are some ridiculous ways to eliminate traffic congestion in Penang:

• Raise sales tax to 1000% over the price of car. For the price of a car, you need to pay for another ten times its price in sales tax.
• Raise road tax in Penang to RM10,000 per month. If it's too expensive to drive, nobody will bring their cars onto the road.
• Charge a toll on use of every road in Penang, including driving out of your driveway.
• Raise parking fee to RM1000 per half hour.
• Anybody wanting a driving license must give away one finger to be chopped off.
• Any family wanting to own a car must sacrifice a family member to be taken away and shot dead.
• Drop an atomic bomb over George Town.

All the above, written with tongue in cheek, is highly effective. Though I am deliberately exaggerating, I am using it to point out more subtle ways that the government can use to discourage the use of cars.

According to the same state government document, Penang has 2,000 km of roads while Singapore has 3,000 km. At the same time, its car/person ratio is 1:6 compared to 1:3 in Penang. Singapore is crisscrossed with numerous expressways. It knows that expressways are vital for its economic lifeblood. They allow not only people, but goods to be moved rapidly from place to place. Yes, goods, not just people. We should not be so people-centric to think that the expressways exist only for the people or cars. We should be mindful that the expressways are built so that they can allow industries to develop in new areas. If we wish to discourage motorists from using them unnecessarily, then we should make driving impractically expensive for most commuters, but at the same time while ensuring that commuters are provided with an excellent alternative mass rapid transit.

The solution to Penang's traffic dispersal lies not in building more roads, but rather building the right ones. There should be a three-step approach. Step One should be the construction of expressways and bypasses that connect the different townships on Penang Island. These should take over the role being presently played by local main roads, which is a contributing factor to congestions. Commuters moving from one end of Penang to the other should be able to do so without having to wade through local traffic.

Once the proper roads are in place - and presently it is not - Step Two would be to further improve on the local public transport. This includes having bus routes connecting all the townships in the state. All bus stops should be numbered and should display precise details of bus routes. Taking another leaf from Singapore, there should be bus hubs at major townships such as Balik Pulau, Bayan Baru, Air Itam and Batu Ferringhi.

Once the public transportation has been improved, then Step Three is to discourage commuters from driving their own vehicles. This may take various forms including the implementation of the Electronic Road Pricing, increase in the price of cars, road tax and petrol. All these will make driving prohibitively expensive in the face of readily available and cheap public transport.

Until cheap public transport (Step Two) is in place, it is detrimental to the economy and well being to introduce Step Three. Steps One and Two have to be properly implemented before trying to prevent people from buying cars. Forcing the issue will only impact on the local economy, as people will no longer find Penang to be a friendly city to live, and will simply vote with their feet, relocating to cities with better public infrastructure.

I would be supportive of the plan to build a tunnel linking Penang Island and Penang Mainland. This will allow speedy movement of traffic to the northern part of Penang Mainland, spurring its development. As in all development, there will be casualties.

Do you remember the Bayan Lepas Mangrove Swamp? I do. I was very upset that the government of the late Tun Dr Lim Chong Eu decided to clear away the mangrove swamp, destroying the habitat of various wildlife. However, in so doing, we today have the Bayan Lepas Free Industrial Zone, a place that provides employment to thousands of people.

How many of us are willing to demolish the Bayan Lepas Free Industrial Zone, so that the land can be returned to the macaques, mud crabs and monitor lizards? Quite often, we voice our concern as long as it does not affect our livelihood. Of course, if our livelihood is not affected by whether the free trade zone stays or go away, we can say anything we like. How many of us working at the Bayan Lepas Free Industrial Zone is willing to give up his job, so that the government can repopulate the land with monkeys, crabs and lizards?

Penang needs development to survive and to remain competitive. In that sense, I would cast my vote for the state leader that is safeguard the wellbeing of its people. While the wellbeing of our wildlife is just as important, that of the people should take first priority.

When it comes to whether or not we should build more roads, a state leader should prioritise on the need of the state and the majority of its people. I am concerned that the opinion of the "privileged class" will be taken to the detriment of the majority. The privileged class is often the "tail that wags the dog," even to the dog's detriment. If you live in George Town, and you walk to work, you are a member of the privileged class, for you are privileged to the luxury of working to work. If you are a business owner and you do not have to clock in to work, you are in the privileged class.

Members of the privileged class in Penang, however influential, are not the majority. The majority of people in Penang is in the working class. They live in places such as Paya Terubong, Farlim, Teluk Kumbar, Balik Pulau, and they need to get to work and clock in on time in George Town, Bayan Lepas, Prai or Bukit Minyak. They travel not out of recreation, but out of need. Why do they drive? Do you think they would enjoy being stuck in the jam?

It is often too easy for those in the privileged class to toss platitudes such as, "Oh, why don't they just move to George Town." Like it's so obvious. This reminds me of the story of Marie Antoinette, who upon learning that the masses are without bread, uttered her infamous response, "Then let them eat cake!"

We have to understand why people buy cars. Other than for the fun of impoverizing themselves, why don't they take the bus? Why do they reject public transport? How can we improve the bus service to better serve them? The state government has even introduced free shuttle buses, are these being adequately used? Can the introduction of trams address (let alone solve) Penang's traffic woes? Or the monorail?

If you live in Paya Terubong (or Balik Pulau), and you work in Prai, would you take the bus? How long will it take to reach your work place and back? It is practical? Will widening the road or building more expressways reduce your commute? Will building a tram system help you?

In conclusion, while I agree that public transport such as buses should continously be improved including the building of dedicated bus lanes, I don't agree that expressways should not be built. Also, I am concerned that the negative opinions of expressways fed to a public that is not sufficiently informed will influence public opinion to the public's own detriment.

¹The study which appeared on the state government website is unfortunately no longer there.

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