LETTERS: In 2016, the Penang Island City Council launched the "Pedestrian is King" campaign in George Town.
Five years later, several projects were carried out to create pedestrian-friendly areas (back lane renovations, the widening of Jalan Gurdwara walkway and the upgrading of the iconic "octopus" bridge near Komtar).
These efforts are commendable, but far from ideal, especially involving traffic light-controlled crossings or in established residential areas outside George Town's core.
Some notable examples include the six-lane Lebuhraya Thean Teik, five-to-six lane Jalan Masjid Negeri and the four-lane section of Lebuhraya Tun Dr Lim Chong Eu near Queensbay Mall.
These straight roads lead to speeding and are not equipped with sufficient pedestrian facilities.
In Jalan Masjid Negeri, I had a near-miss with an elderly lady near Lam Wah Ee Hospital. The nearest pedestrian bridges are located at the Penang Free School and the Cerebral Palsy Children's Association of Penang. It does not make sense for a pedestrian to make such a long round trip just to safely access the areas/businesses near Lam Wah Ee Hospital.
As for the elderly lady, she was lucky enough to avoid me, the adjacent motorcyclist and the impatient motorist behind. That incident could have been fatal if either of us had decided to put the pedal to the metal.
Next is our motorists' attitude towards pedestrian infrastructure. It has become a norm for vehicles to ignore red lights. This prompted the Road Transport Department to initiate Op Merah, perhaps a follow-up to the police's Op Lampu Isyarat Merah in December last year.
In Kuala Lumpur, the City Hall faces problems with defaced security bollards that are meant to keep vehicles out of pedestrian spaces. In Penang, right in front of the Penang High Court, the zebra crossing has been replaced with a traffic-light crossing.
Those who have been to foreign countries would have been impressed to see motorists giving way to pedestrians. Are we emulating that habit in Malaysia? As for pedestrians, why do you need to jaywalk when you are either near or, even worse, at a traffic light-controlled crossing?
Near-miss incidents like mine are a daily occurrence when the roads are fairly empty as most people are rushing to clock in for the 7am shift.
Since Penang has 767 closed-circuit television cameras (CCTVs) installed around the island with most having IBM facial recognition camera system, I had suggested that ePINTAS use these cameras to summon traffic offenders. I received a bewildering response that from a legal basis, CCTV footage cannot be used for issuing summonses. The footage can only be used for monitoring and as evidence in an investigation. An enforcement officer still needs to be present at the location to tackle the problem.
I feel it is useless to have the latest technologies when there are still archaic laws that prevent the full potential of CCTV cameras.
In Shenzhen, China, traffic offenders have been caught on cameras since 2018 and are publicly shamed as well.
While I do not agree with the public shaming part, I do believe CCTVs are efficient in nabbing traffic offenders.
Penang has nine more years to achieve its Penang2030 vision. Would the state government be able to realise Theme D1 by then? Would member of parliament Sim Tze Tzin realise his "15-minute Walkable City" vision for Bayan Baru? Can we, as Keluarga Malaysia, be more inclusive of pedestrians?
I would like to issue the challenge of making the streets more pedestrian-friendly not only to the Penang government but also to all local authorities and the federal
government.
ALEE
Penang
The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect those of the New Straits Times