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| 1. | Road centred approach to solving traffic congestion has been known to be irrational internationally roads building using limited land and resources cannot catch up with ever growing vehicles.
AP: Compared to Singapore and Hong Kong , Penang as an island has less population, more cars, and more roads and more traffic jams. Time to reconsider building more roads. The State Government acknowledges that a viable transportation solution cannot rely on road building alone. Hence, PORR is planned to work simultaneously with a modern public transportation (monorails, integrated bus services) to provide ease of travel to Penangites. Penang and Hong Kong have about 2,000km each in total road length, but Singapore currently has more than 3,000km. However, Penang lacks a clear road hierarchy. Unlike city centres in Hong Kong and Singapore, George Town does not have highways or bypasses, which is a cause of traffic congestion during peak hours. Roads meant as district distributors (to channel traffic to housing areas), including Jalan Masjid Negeri, Jalan Scotland, Jalan Air Hitam and Jalan Gottlieb are also required to act as highways and bypasses, while accommodating traffic from schools, housing areas and businesses nearby. Therefore, defining a road hierarchy in Penang by building highways and bypasses is not an unusual approach. It will offer the most immediate and largest relief to the current traffic situation. PORR - a bypass treatment to local road chokage
Even with accessible and popular public transportation systems, Hong Kong and Singapore, continue to add roads to already impressive road networks. Singapore is amidst constructing the S$1.8 billion (approximately RM4 billion) Kallang/Paya Lebar Expressway, which will have nine kilometres of tunnel out of 12km of road. Penang shares the dilemma of Singapore and Hong Kong of land constraint. But we are taking after their example that a sustainable transportation solution must not exclude road expansion. People will benefit from better travel times, as will the economy as commercial vehicles ferrying goods, services or manpower operate with higher efficiency.
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| 2. | It is wrong priority to promote sales of the national car, which result in the need to build more roads to accommodate more cars, over people's welfare and well-being. The higher priority for the people is to deal with numerous costs of traffic jams and the high cost to build more roads in dwindling lands.
Penang is increasingly affluent and car ownership is widespread. There is a large market for private cars with more than half a million cars registered in the State. Even without the promotion of national car sales, there will be traffic growth in Penang. The State Government's priority is to manage this growth and offer good alternatives to driving. Plans are underway to introduce "Park and Ride" services to the people, after a pilot project was introduced for civil servants. An integrated bus service is being mapped out as well. Monorail service is also being finalized for George Town. Meanwhile, the Jelutong Expressway (JEway) is also being built to help alleviate the heavy flow of traffic in and out of the town centre, which will be complemented by PORR in the future. Road building is not the only solution
but a necessary component of transportation planning
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| 3. | Even without the above policy car demand need management to address the need to move people around urban areas on a cost effective basis. Building more roads to accommodate the desire to own car endlessly does not make more sense than to provide mobility to non-car owners.
AP: Car/person ratio in Singapore (1:6), Hong Kong (1:4) and Penang (1:3). No wonder Penang has more traffic jams. The car/person ratio in Hong Kong is 1:12 and in Singapore it is 1:10. In Penang, it is 1:3. With so many Penangites owning cars, any public transportation solution will take time to gain popularity. While bus service integration is being planned and monorail considered, bypasses and highways are necessary to manage the traffic growth ahead. PORR with JEway and the Butterworth Outer Ring Road (BORR) are meant to reorganise the State’s roads to provide ease of travel to Penangites, using public and private transport. Simultaneously, campaigns will be organised to promote the use of new public transportation schemes as they become available, as part of a multi-pronged transportation solution.
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| 4. | Outer ring roads-where it is used, may not be able to solve traffic problems if other sources of traffic jams are not addresses systematically.
AP: Beijing is going to build the 5th outer ring road to try to solve insoluble traffic congestions. George Town lacks a good road network, and local roads are now used to manage traffic that can otherwise be reduced with bypasses and highways. Without a good road hierarchy, residents of Island Glades are needlessly caught in rush hour traffic, sharing Jalan Masjid Negeri with motorists trying to travel home to Tanjung Tokong.
PORR will be an alternative to local roads and thus help divert unnecessary traffic away from local roads, easing congestion. But PORR is also part of a multi-pronged strategy that will include modern public transportation options. PORR forms a prerequisite for the development of these measures by freeing roads from heavy traffic, allowing for better movement of public transport systems, such as the integrated bus service, which will benefit by operating on schedule. Jam-free roads = Efficient public transport
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| 5. | PORR was recommended from a 20-year-old transport report the JICA report. More updated transport-the Halcrow Report 1998 give more emphasis to public transport. It says that if there is a major public transport initiative in Penang then roads building projects should make away.
Penang Bridge took almost sixteen years to see fruition, but has become indispensable to the State’s transportation network. The same goes with almost any large infrastructure project, whereby planning is made ahead of need, and construction is carried out only when the need is justified. Recommendations by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and the Halcrow Consultants were evaluated by the State and Federal Government. It was decided that PORR was needed as a component of Penang’s transportation. The planning for PORR started way back in 1980
Other measures were recommended in the Penang Urban Transport Study: Final Report, better known as the "Halcrow Report" for George Town, including public transportation. However, it stated that should 'socio-economic and structural development conditions' change, or, 'the shift to public transport be more significant than expected, then specific schemes can be brought forward, whilst others can be delayed'. Penang's transportation policy is taking shape but not strictly adhering to proposals by JICA or Halcrow, but with their recommendations in mind. In the absence of PORR, traffic management measures were taken including road widening and construction of fly-overs and applying 'computerised area traffic control' systems. A monorail system is being finalized for George Town, ahead of Halcrow's recommendation for a mass transit system after 2010.
A Guided Bus System was proposed for 2010, but the State Government has opted for integrated bus service, which is being undertaken now, offering comprehensive routes. A pilot "Park and Ride" project has been introduced for civil servants and will be later expanded for more public use. Integrated transport terminals and bus priority measures involving Intelligent Transport System are also underway.
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