The standard of urban living nowadays is largely judged by public transport standards. Where public transport is found wanting, private ownership of cars goes up, creating problems of parking, pollution, traffic jams and road deaths. George Town has a lot to learn from others, such as Brazil's Curitiba.
LIKE MOST CITIES, George Town has traffic problems. This is illogical as the city has less people today than say, 40 years ago. The population of George Town was about 261,800 in 1970, while the estimated figure for 2010 from the Statistics Department is only 193,200.
There are just too many private cars on the roads. George Town and Penang Island as a whole need a new transportation system in which private cars play the least role in getting from home to workplace.
The Penang Structure Plan 2020 that was gazetted in 2007 proposed a study on the possibility of a "light transit service (monorail)". Since the state government is looking into improvements on our public transportation system, it is wise to look for good practices throughout the world.
