Alan K. Meier

Intermediate Transport in South East Asian Cities

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Transport in Penang - Background

Transportation in Penang is not typical of Asian cities since, with the exception of trishas, the people move in a very conventional way. The transport mix reflects the influence of three factors that, at some time in the future, every Asian city must face. By far the most important is the impact of newly gained wealth by the middle class. The cities of Malaysia have a large middle class that is far richer than is normally the case in Southeast Asia. The Penang transport mix reveals how people have combined this new wealth with their very strong feelings about status, the second factor, to choose a transport mode. Their free choice is constrained by the third factor, a government unwilling to allow innovation in transport.

Penang is a small island (350 sq. km.) lying off the north-west coast of Malaysia. About 450,000 people live on the island, almost: all of them in Georgetown, the principal city, and its suburbs. Georgetown is in the north-east corner of the island, while most of the industries are towards the south. Across the narrow straits, connected by a ferry, is the city of Butterworth (pop. 40,000) and a few satellite communities. Butterworth is Penang's railhead as well as the site of several industrial estates.