Penang Transport

  Getting to Penang both from within and outside Malaysia is easy as Penang is well-connected by road, rail, sea and air. 

Bridge, roads and highways
 
 Penang Island is connected to the mainland by the 13.5-kilometre Penang Bridge (completed in 1985), one of the longest  bridges in Asia. 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 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 transportation 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 transportation problem.

Public transport
 
 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 Funicular Railway was an engineering feat of sorts when it was completed  in  1923.
 
 The Penang bus services today are generally unsystematic and do not have a reputation of reliability. Therefore, the usage  of  public transportation 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.

 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. This  has caused many taxi  drivers to go on strike or "sick leave". Although taxi drivers have been repeatedly warned by the state  government, the  meter system are still not used by taxi drivers in Penang.

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

  
Rail and monorail
 
 Penang has 34.9 km of rail track within its border[5]. 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  Malam  is the daily night express running from Kuala Lumpur to Haadyai via Butterworth. Trains are not a popular mode of  transportation  due to their low speed and also because of the availability of buses which are more convenient, as well  as high   ownership of cars.

 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.


Airport

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

 In 2005, the airport handled 2.83 million passengers, both domestic and international, and 22.22 million metric tonne of  cargo  from within and outside the country

Ferry and seaports

 Cross-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.