PMTP : Penang Master Transport plan as I see it ...

I could read in the news that there are a lot of noise from NGOs or Environmentalist calling the Penang State Government to change their plan or the mode of the future transportation in Penang.
They say lets keep nature and protect the surrounding environment.   I think it is too late now but someone would argue , it is better late than never.   But do you have a plan ?

It was my experience which I want to share with you about my traveling incident in Penang.

One day , I was asked by my wife to pick her up in Piza , the big convention hall in Penang Island  and which is quite close to Penang Airport. Maybe normal days , it will take ten minutes from the Airport to reach the Convention Centre.  

Happily , at 6pm , I left my office and it was smooth all the way through the bridge to Penang island.  After reaching the island , my focus was to use the coastal highway to Bayan Lepas direction . Yeah, it was all well planned.  However, I missed the turn to Piza and instead headed towards Bayan Lepas following the coastal road.  Then , I should follow the road and make a U-turn back to the direction of Piza.  Again , I must the U-turn and was heading towards Sunway Mutiara , the Mah Sing housing estate.  I saw the massive jam on the route from Bayan Lepas towards Queen's Bay , so I want to choose an easy way back to PIZA.   I choose the Batu Maung way and there was a massive jam out from Batu Maung into the main road facing the Snake Temple.

There was also a massive jam on the road to the airport . By now, I am already stuck for one hour and expected to wait another one hour for the jam to clear..  It was moving at ant pace and I was upset with the messy traffic. I wonder how these office staff or workers have be enduring these type of jams for years .  For those NGOs or environmentalist , they sit in their office and become arm chair critics and starting to make noise about the traffic plan . Are they real ? 

After passing the jam , it was smooth all the way to PIZA  and reaching there in 10 minutes from the airport.  Now , I know how the Penang Government is having a bad time with the traffic situation and if there is nothing done in the next 5 to 10 years, the jams will get worst and it will take 3 hours instead of one hour for my one way trip from Prai to Piza via the airport road.

I now appreciate the work and the plan.  For those , who have the choice of working somewhere else or in a jam free environment , please think of those having to get stuck and cursing all the way home from office or to office.

Please don't just talk and imagine . Get into the jam and feel the pain before you open your big mouth to talk.   My emotions is running high if I think of the incident.  How much time do we have, we have to live well and with such massive traffic jams , how can we do it.

Namaste.