We Know Buses Don T Fly Zairil But More Roads Won T Fix Traffic

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Only integrated transport and smarter policies can break the gridlock.
From Boo Jia Cher
Recently, Penang transport chief Zairil Khir Johari quipped that “roads are still needed because buses don’t fly”.
Catchy and cheeky, but really just a defence of flyovers and highway megaprojects. Global evidence shows the opposite: build more roads, and you end up with more traffic.
That’s not activist folklore: it’s one of the most repeated findings in transport research. Add lanes and you create new trips, longer trips, and shifts from other modes.
Before long, you’re back to square one, only with more asphalt and higher maintenance bills. Penang deserves a solution that actually moves people, not one that invites more cars.
What world cities actually do 
Singapore is the clearest regional example. The island carries nearly four million bus trips daily with a fleet of around 5,800 buses, alongside high-capacity rail, while keeping traffic in check with vehicle quotas (COE) and congestion pricing (ERP). Its own transport ministry says both are essential to keep roads flowing.
Seoul reformed buses in 2004: median bus lanes and real-time management. Result: peak-hour bus speeds jumped about 30%, making buses reliably fast and visibly attractive. That’s what “buses that don’t get stuck” look like.
London and Stockholm didn’t build more flyovers to beat gridlock. They priced congestion.
London’s charge improved traffic conditions and air quality; Stockholm’s cordon cut traffic across its boundary by around 20% and stayed popular once people saw the benefits.
Paris reduced central car traffic by doubling down on walking and cycling, reallocating streets and building protected lanes.
The message isn’t “only buses”. It is about complete networks: rail-plus-buses-plus-bikes-plus-feet, reinforced by pricing and planning.
George Town’s streets were never built for cars 
George Town’s pre-automobile shophouse grid is tight, human-scale, and globally admired. Squeezing more motor traffic through it erodes exactly what makes it valuable.
The right move is pedestrianisation on the highest-footfall streets, with clear access windows for logistics and residents, and high-frequency bus links around and into the core.
Evidence from similar districts around the world is consistent: calmer streets bring safety, retail uplift, cleaner air, and better public life, when paired with good access.
But Zairil’s right about one thing – buses aren’t everything 
Absolutely. Buses are just one strand of the solution, and more highways certainly aren’t. Penang’s recipe should look like this:
1. Make bus priority real: Build continuous median or curbside bus lanes along corridors that connect directly to homes, shops, and jobs. Equip them with signal priority and enforce them with cameras. Penang and KL have tried, but weak enforcement limits impact. It is time to make it stick.
2. Congestion pricing: Channel the revenue directly into better transit, walking, and cycling. The world’s best examples show that road pricing only works when paired with visible transit upgrades. Make reinvestments visible so people see the benefits.
3. Pedestrianise high-footfall streets: Start with predictable weekend/peak hours, then extend as data proves benefits. Manage loading bays and resident access intelligently.
4. Limit car ownership and use: You don’t need a carbon copy of Singapore’s COE to learn its lesson: without ownership and usage controls, any capacity you build will be filled.
5. Plan for people, not parking: Increase density near stations and frequent bus corridors; higher density reliably lifts ridership and shortens trip lengths when paired with good service.
6. Make LRT and buses complements: No serious city runs on metro alone. Tokyo, London, Singapore, Seoul all rely on dense bus networks to feed rail, fill gaps, and provide off-peak coverage. Even rail titans keep huge bus operations because that’s how you build a network, not a set of isolated lines. (Our own Klang Valley is a bad example of this.)
7. Build cycling and walking like you mean it: Not hollow sustainability photo ops, but real infrastructure: protected lanes, safe intersections, secure parking, and seamless links to bus and LRT stops. That’s what makes short trips viable, and takes real pressure off the roads.
The punchline
Flyovers won’t rescue Penang from congestion any more than adding lanes ever rescued the Klang Valley, Houston or Los Angeles. They generate the traffic that swallows them.
If Penang wants buses that move, trains that fill, and streets that breathe, it needs to copy what works: price road space, prioritise people, and build an integrated network where rail, buses, bikes and walking are the easiest choice.
Penang can do this. But only if we stop feeding the very problem we’re trying to solve.- 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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