IT IS A FAMILIAR SIGHT: every working day, right after quitting time, the Penang Bridge is filled with thousands of cars (with plenty of empty passenger seats), lines very slowly inching forward. Throngs of executives and factory workers are forced to remain in their cars as traffic grinds to a halt for no apparent reason, doing their best not to lose their tempers.
Penang’s traffic woes are no secret. According to the Road Transport Department, there are some 800,000 cars paying road taxes every year in Penang, along with a million motorcycles – there are more vehicles in Penang than there are people! The Penang Blueprint 2011–2015 estimates that Penang’s labour force makes up about 700,000 of the population, and only a third of that figure use buses. Figures from the Penang Bridge Corporation are staggering and estimates place the number of vehicles travelling from the mainland to the island at 70,000 vehicles a day (which works out to over 25 million vehicles a year!). That’s a lot of cars and motorcycles adding to the congestion, fuel and toll expenses and air pollution.
Two-thirds of vehicles entering the Bayan Lepas Free Industrial Zones (FIZs) come from the mainland. While attempts had been made over the years to reduce Penang’s dependence on private cars, nothing seemed to stem the rising tide of traffic. While a second Penang Bridge (currently under construction) could help take the pressure off an already congested entry point to the island, the fact remains that Penang needs a long-term, sustainable solution now.
