Pil 1 And Penang Lrt A Self Inflicted Contradiction

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From Boo Jia Cher
It is deeply troubling to hear transport minister Loke Siew Fook, a purported advocate of public transport, claim that highways and light rail transit (LRT) can complement each other.
The notion that these two competing forms of transportation can coexist harmoniously contradicts basic logic and urban planning principles. It is difficult to reconcile the minister’s words with the reality of how transportation systems evolve, especially when considering the well-documented phenomenon of induced demand.
Induced demand refers to the idea that expanding road networks encourages more people to drive, ultimately worsening congestion in the long run. This principle is widely accepted by urban planners and environmental experts globally.
Yet, despite decades of research and observation, Malaysia continues to ignore these lessons. The nation persists in building car-centric infrastructure, believing that expanding road networks can somehow also promote public transport use.
The proposed Pan Island Link 1 (PIL 1) highway in Penang exemplifies this flawed thinking. Loke’s claim that the highway will “complement” the Penang LRT is not only contradictory but misguided. Public transport and car infrastructure are not naturally complementary; in fact, they often compete for space. The more roads we build, the more cars are encouraged to fill them.
The reality is simple: we cannot encourage public transport use while simultaneously expanding infrastructure for private vehicles. In Penang, as in the rest of Malaysia, car usage has become the norm, contributing to the severe congestion we now face.
Moreover, Malaysia is grappling with a road death crisis that continues to escalate, with the number of fatalities on our highways increasing every year. This tragic reality highlights the dangers of prioritising road expansion over safer, sustainable alternatives.
Instead of easing congestion, constructing additional highways will only worsen the problem. Each new highway attracts more traffic, encourages illegal racing and motorbike stunts, and diminishes the motivation to use public transport. More roads lead to more fatalities, injuries, and environmental harm. To secure a safer and healthier future for Malaysians, we must avoid continuing down this perilous path.
What Penang – and Malaysia – needs is a fundamental shift in thinking. Rather than expanding urban highways and road networks, the focus should be on reducing car infrastructure and investing heavily in public transport.
This approach would force people to reconsider their dependence on private vehicles, making public transport a more attractive and practical option. To foster this change, we must dismantle the car-first mentality that has long dominated Malaysian urban planning.
Building more urban highways like PIL 1 ultimately perpetuates a cycle of increasing car dependency, worsening traffic, and contributing to the growing number of road fatalities.
It echoes the mistakes made with the Klang Valley’s MRT lines, where highways and MRT stations were built side by side, resulting in clogged roads and underutilised train stations.
Public transport can only thrive if we give it a fighting chance by curbing car dominance. Without this shift, no amount of “encouragement” will meaningfully alter travel behaviour.
It is a tragic irony that a transport minister who should champion sustainable mobility is instead perpetuating the same old mistake of prioritising cars.
The message is clear: until bold decisions are made to reduce car infrastructure and address the road death crisis, we will continue to grapple with traffic woes and unnecessary loss of life.
Public transport and urban highways are not complementary; they are mutually exclusive in the long run. Only by recognising this can we begin to address the root causes of our traffic problems and prevent further tragedies on our roads. - FMT
Boo Jia Cher is an FMT reader.
The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of MMKtT.

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