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What? Yet another Penang Transport Master Plan?

I refer to the letter Bottom-up approach for Penang's new Transport Master Plan .

Dr Lim Mah Hui's advocacy of a `bottom up' approach to come up with a new Penang Transport Master Plan is problematic from the word `go' - specifically the members of the Penang Transport Council which in his words:

`.....comprising mainly of independent members of the public drawn from professionals, academics from institutions of higher learning and traffic management experts to advise the state government on transport issues.'

Despite being criticised in open forum before this, he steadfastly refused to include the very important stakeholder of the transport plan ie, the public transport users themselves. In fact when he was challenged the last time, he could not name any on the Penang Transport Council who were regular public transport users!

So much for the `bottom up' approach. Maybe only the words were the only ones that came from the bottom?

As to the dismissal of the previous transport studies Lim shows an ignorance of Penang transport planning history which questions his eligibility to be an advisor on Penang's transport.

Actually, the things that have to be done have been clearly identified for donkey’s years and the problem is merely a lack of political will. The various measures that need to be done include improving pedestrianisation, reducing single occupancy vehicles coming through the congested CBD; connectivity of different modes of transports, park-n-rides facilities, open tenders for bus operators and universal access/improved access for disabled passengers etc.

Looking for another transport master plan only reflects a blindness to the past and repeated debates on Penang’s transport planning (for that matter, the transport planning for KL also). It is time to act on well-repeated, well-reviewed, well-affirmed past recommendations from the existing transport forum.

This is not time to do another plan which benefits only the parties paid to do yet another study.

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