Transport

Trishaw, taxi, rented car, motorcycle and bicycle or public bus – you choose. Of course there various modes of transportation in the state but it really depends on where you are planning to visit.

Penang has had a monorail under consideration since 1999. The Penang Monorail project was finally approved on March 31, 2006 under the Ninth Malaysia Plan. On August 2, 2006, the federal government has decided to build the monorail transit system in the city of George Town. This monorail line will connect Tanjung Tokong in the north with Bayan Lepas in the south, Air Itam in the west and Weld Quay in the east. No positive news on the progress of this plan have been heard however since the change of state government following the loss of the Barisan Nasional party n Penang during the March 8 election.

Intercity Rail

Penang has 34.9 km of rail track within its border[1]. Butterworth is serviced by the Keretapi Tanah Melayu (KTM) or Malayan Railway West Coast line which runs from Padang Besar on the Malaysia-Thailand Border in Perlis to Singapore. Senandung Langkawi is the daily night express running from Kuala Lumpur to Haadyai via Butterworth. Trains are not a popular mode of transport due to their low speed and also because of the availability of buses which are more convenient, as well as high ownership of cars.

Roads

The 13.5 km long Penang BridgePenang Island is connected to the mainland by the 13.5-kilometre Penang Bridge (completed in 1985), one of the longest bridges in Asia. Due to heavy traffic, the bridge is currently being broadened into 3 lanes from the current two. On March 31, 2006, the Malaysian government announced a second bridge project, tentatively named the Penang Second Bridge, to be built under the Ninth Malaysia Plan. Penang Bridge was built by Hyundai.

Penang on the side of Province Wellesley is connected to the North-South Expressway (Lebuhraya Utara-Selatan), the 966-km long expressway which traverses the western part of Peninsular Malaysia linking major cities and towns. The expressway also incorporates the Penang Bridge.

The controversial Penang Outer Ring Road (PORR) is now under way. The idea of the project is to cut travelling time on the eastern part of the island. Concerned citizens voiced protests over the designated route which will cut across quiet residential areas and also cause some environmental damage. Another expressway, the Jelutong Expressway has reduced travelling time from the Penang Bridge to the city centre by half.

The Butterworth Outer Ring Road (BORR) is a 14-km tolled expressway that serves primarily Butterworth and Bukit Mertajam to ameliorate the upsurge in vehicular traffic due to intense urban and industrial development.

Unfortunately, modern transport has also brought the problem of traffic congestion to the roads of Penang, as most of the roads in the city centre are narrow, due to lack of proper planning and also primarily because these lanes and alleys were built so long ago. Many of them have since been converted into one-way streets in order to smoothen traffic flow. Roads in the city outskirts and in Province Wellesley, however, are broad and modern because these areas were more recently populated and thus could anticipate heavier traffic. As traffic congestion worsen by the year, the government desperately needs to come up with a comprehensive solution to the erratic public transport problem.

Buses

Buses and taxis in George Town.Penang boasted an efficient public transport network right up to the 1970s. Electric trams, trolleybuses and double deckers used to ply the streets of Penang. The Penang Hill Railway, a funicular railway to the top of Penang Hill, was an engineering feat of sorts when it was completed in 1923, and is still in use today.

The Penang bus services today are generally unsystematic and do not have a reputation of reliability. Therefore, the usage of public transport is still low, exacerbating the traffic jams in the city during rush hours. The city council has, however, provided free shuttle bus services for short intra-city travel to lessen the congestion, with mixed success. In April 2006, the local authorities announced a revamp of the public bus service to bring about a more reliable and efficient network without any visible progress. On February 20, 2007, the government announced that Rapid KL will operate the public bus service in Penang under the new entity called Rapid Penang which is formed for this purpose.

There are two main bus terminals for express buses which travel out of the state. One is located at the ferry terminal in Province Wellesley, and a newer one at Sungai Nibong on the island.

Taxis in Penang have not conformed to the meter system as exhorted by the federal authorities, citing unprofitability. A new ruling implemented on August 1, 2006 makes it compulsory for taxis to use the meter system. Although taxi drivers have been repeatedly warned by the state government and the Commercial Vehicle Licensing Board (CVLB), the meter system is still not adhered to by taxi drivers in Penang.

A quaint mode of transport, the three-wheeled trishaw, still operates in certain parts of George Town. However, with the advent of modern transport, the trishaw has increasingly become a mere tourist attraction.

Airport
Penang International Airport (PEN) is located in Bayan Lepas in the south of the island, and international flights are available to Hong Kong, Singapore, Medan, Banda Aceh, Taipei, Bangkok, Koh Samui and Guangzhou. The airport serves as the northern gateway to Malaysia.

In 2006, the airport handled 3.1 million passengers, both domestic and international, and 22.22 million metric tonne of cargo in 2005 from within and outside the country[2]. The airport is the hub of Firefly, a low-cost carrier wholly owned by Malaysia Airlines.

Seaports

A Penang ferry docking at the Butterworth jettyCross-channel ferry services, provided by the Penang Ferry Service, connect George Town and Butterworth, and were the only link between the island and the mainland until the bridge was built in 1985. High-speed ferries to the resort island of Langkawi, Kedah in the north as well as to Medan, Indonesia are also available daily.

The Port of Penang is operated by the Penang Port Commission. There are four terminals, one on Penang island (Swettenham Pier) and three on the mainland, namely North Butterworth Container Terminal (NBCT), Butterworth Deep Water Wharves (BDWW), and Prai Bulk Cargo Terminal (PBCT). Malaysia being the 13th largest exporting nation, the Port of Penang plays a leading role in the nation’s shipping industry, linking Penang to more than 200 ports worldwide. Swettenham Pier also accommodates cruise ships.