Transport strategy for Penang

by Ganesh Rasagam

Part I

From trams to jams

1880s to 1950s

PENANG HAS A RICH HISTORY in transportation that offers valuable insights in planning for the future. Penang island had the first suburban steam tramway in this part of the world in 1880 followed by a city horse tramway in 1898. The electric tram system opened in 1906 and eventually operated 24 trams over 11 miles of track on Penang island. This electric tram system ceased operations in 1936 and was eventually replaced by a double-decker bus system operated by the Penang Municipal Council. By all accounts, this was a remarkably well-managed and efficient service. Walking, cycling and riding trishaws were the primary means of passenger transport within the city area and hand-pulled carts and bullock carts widely used for freight transport. In the early 1950s, there were only a small number of motorcars in use and motorcycles had not even been invented yet! 

The consequences of this changing transport demand were several. Policy makers and physical planners actively sought to promote private vehicle ownership to stimulate economic growth and planned extensive road networks to cater for this explosion of vehicles. Bus companies and trishaws suffered declining patronage that affected their profitability and significance. This led to a gradual erosion of public transport capacity that has not been arrested until today. For the first time in the planning process, the needs and safety of pedestrians, public transport users and cyclists were overshadowed by the emphasis on providing unobstructed right of way to motorcycles and cars.

It is important to note that trishaws and bicycles were still important modes of transport even in 1970. The Penang Master Plan in 1970 concluded that "the predominate means of short distance urban transportation in Penang state is by trishaw". At that time, there were more than 2,500 trishaws and handcarts in Penang island. However, the Plan goes on to say "already trishaws constitute a serious traffic obstacle in George Town" justifying a Municipal Council decision to freeze their numbers.

The second wave of motorization emanating from Japan was also during this period. Between 1975 and 1985, the number of private motorcars registered in Penang more than doubled with the Nissans, Toyotas and Hondas flooding the roads of Penang. The year 1985 can be considered as a watershed year for traffic in Penang with the completion of KOMTAR and the opening of the Penang Bridge. While KOMTAR was originally planned as a public transport hub (based on the Central Area Planning Unit or CAPU studies), public transport planning and development was not in tandem given the policy neglect since the 1970s. This resulted in an influx of private vehicles into the heart of George Town. Traffic growth on the Penang bridge was phenomenal due to the drastic reduction in the capacity of the ferry services especially after the collapse of the Butterworth jetty in 1987. This traffic from the Penang bridge was also largely headed towards George Town, worsening the congestion on the city roads. Although there have not been any formal studies, it is widely acknowledged that the Penang bridge was also responsible for the rapid urbanization (and congestion) in sub-urban areas such as Prai, Bukit Mertajam, Gelugor and Jelutong. 

A second JICA Study was completed in 1987 that resulted in the establishment of the initial phase of a Japanese funded computerized area junction control system in George Town. However the effectiveness of this system quickly diminished as traffic volumes exceeded the design capacity and the subsequent phases of the system were not implemented due to funding constraints. Although the 1987 JICA Study was also very much private vehicle focused, it nevertheless made quite impressive proposals on improving public transport and pedestrian facilities, some of which were partially implemented.

The Penang Strategic Development Plan (PSDP) was formulated in 1990 for the period 1991-2000 to succeed the Penang Master Plan. At the same time, the Structure Plans for both Penang island and Seberang Perai were adopted. These plans emphasized improvements to public transport (bus and ferry services) and facilities for pedestrians and the mobility-impaired while at the same time focusing on traffic management and parking control measures. 

What was clear during this period was that there were fundamental policy, legislative and institutional barriers to be overcome before any integrated state transport policy or system can be put in place. In the meantime, the lack of integration between transport provision and town planning and development control was becoming plainly evident. The local authorities were forced to implement rather ad-hoc and piecemeal solutions, for example the one-way traffic system in George Town and the flyover at Jalan Masjid Negeri/Jalan Batu Lancang. These were rather desperate attempts to partially overcome localized traffic problems while grappling unsuccessfully with the larger issues of increasing private vehicle ownership, traffic congestion, road accidents and ineffective public transport. Nevertheless, it was business as usual in terms of development approvals on the assumption that the Outer Ring Roads PORR will take care of traffic problems some time in the future!

There was no comprehensive transport plan for the state that could address these issues until year 2000 when the Penang Urban Transport Study was completed. Although this study was actually commissioned to study the alignment of the proposed Second Bridge between Penang island and Seberang Perai, it also addressed public transport and other urban transport issues and made various recommendations for an overall urban transport strategy for the state. Unfortunately, this study was not asked to review the 1980 concept of the Penang and Butterworth Outer Ring Roads and simply assumed that these roads as well as the Second Bridge were already committed projects. 

In summary, the evolution of transport in Penang was from energy efficient and relatively environment friendly public and non-motorized transport to the ecologically and socially unsustainable system that we have today. This evolution did not happen by accident but was driven by a series of global, national and state economic, policy and physical planning decisions since the 1960s that neglected public transport and overwhelmingly promoted and supported the use of private vehicles. The consequences of this evolution will be discussed in the next section.#

The review addresses the development of transport plans and strategies from 1970 to 2000 and analyses the trends and challenges in terms of rate of motorization and private vehicle growth, road space utilization, traffic congestion, road traffic safety and environmental quality. Comparisons with Singapore and Hong Kong reveal that Penang has a much higher rate of motorization that is clearly unsustainable.

The paper discusses the strategic options available to the state and suggests that the proposals for the Outer Ring Road and a second bridge between the island and mainland are based on out-dated planning and therefore need to be reviewed.