Following the announcement of the Land Public Transport Commission’s (SPAD) intention to table a proposal which could lead to the return of tram services in the state of Penang, a urban studies expert has provided his vote of confidence on the subject, theSun reports.
Stuart MacDonald, Penang Institute Fellow and Urban Studies head, commented that this “was what the state was working for in the last four years as seen by the Penang Transport Master Plan (PTMP).” MacDonald stated that he was confident that the implementation of a tram network in Penang could help lower traffic congestion as it offered an alternative that could help commuters get to their destinations faster.
He went on to add that the three key ‘Cs’ that make up an effective public transport network should be observed – comfort, convenience and cost-effective. “Convenience means the frequency should be as regular as possible as there is no point in waiting 30 minutes for a tram,” he told the daily. The tram service, should it come into service, should be comfortable and “not too pricey for commuters.”
As mentioned, SPAD is to submit a proposal for amendments to the Land Public Transport (PAD) Act 2010 as the current version does not contain any form of provision for such a service. SPAD CEO, Mohd Nur Ismail Kamal, clarified that such a move was required as the trams would run alongside vehicles on the road.
Aside from MacDonald, the move was also applauded by Chow Kon Yeow, Local Government Committee chairman, who commented that “the state welcomed the initiative” undertaken by SPAD to amend the legislation. “We shall work on the matter after the appointment of the project delivery partner (PDP) of the PTMP,” he concluded.
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Good news…
Tram is expensive. Huge turning radius. Can’t pass thru small areas. Go for PRT instead. That’s Personal Rapid Transit.
Let Penang be a pioneer in future public transportation.
No need to turn … just forward and backwards…
And thru some buildings I suppose.
I think what he meant is cornering which is quite easy for a tram in small streets.
This is a good move considering tram was my primary mode of transport when i was in melbourne. It is very convenient provided there would be an extensive network of trams connecting every nook n cranny of the city. Only thing of concern is, whether the drivers can adapt to having a large ‘train’ in their streets and learn to drive accordingly. Otherwise, Penang driver who’s known for being a bad driver will just end up creating accidents after accidents.
Penang drivers worse than Somalians with guns, you think leh?
Go suck Najib’s nut sack
Go drop the soap for your dear leader
Get a life please
Trams on the narrow streets of georgetown will only cause havoc to the already congested traffic and will finally put the final nail to the coffin of the already suffering trishaw service. What penang needs is a efficient intrastate public transport ie LRT/metro services.
Please la.. many contries in europe are using trams. some of their roads are even narrower than georgetown. trams are well known as good public transport solution for this kind of narrow road and old city.
Plsase lah, malaysian roaduser totally different than european driver. Simply parking on roadside or even on busstop. A bus could switch lane to move around but not tram.
Plus some city remove trams service due to its inefficient, expensive maintenance, slow speed plus safety hazard pose to other roaduser with the rail track and overhang live cable.
Please la.. trams slow in speed? The modern tramupto can easily go upto 80kmh.. how fast u want? Wait ppl to change style then only implement? How long u want to wait?
The problem now is that most of penangites drive into georgetown because the lack of suitable public transport. If LRT/metro is available, less cars will go into the city hence ease the congestion. Only then trams can be effectively implemented and efficiently used.
Agree, Already so narrow and congested, What is needed is a LRT to replace the ferry, Why are island people not taking the bus more often? Who will the tram benefit? I do weekly food shopping trips from the mainland to the island. Impossible to go carless.
U want carless? please go shop at Pekan Jitra or Changlun
Either you’ve never been to Penang or you don’t freakin know how tram works or you’ve never seen trams in action or maybe you just don’t know…
Penangintes are modern city dwellers who can adapt to changes.
It’s the time for penangites/Malaysian learn to ditch their car at home and use public transport.
imo, people afraid to implement tram bcoz its damn too crowded already. but, people will slowly adapt/ leave their cars at home as they start using public transport. of course malaysian drivers quite harsh on the road, but who knows when tram comes, they will slowly learn how to respect others on the road.
Bas pun dah tak nak pakai… macam mana nak paksa pakai tram lagi?
Why not monorail?
Good luck to drivers learning how to use right hook turn… When simple things such as stopping at stop junction and queueing already fail
An advanced highly intelligent society like Penangites will learn and adopt.
Idiots, how to put a tram on Penang roads.
Even a BRT or Monorail is better.
Most of our public transport name it LRT, Commuter, future MRT/Tram will be benefited by mostly pendatang not locals because the concern of safety…