Move people, not vehicles

I REFER to Nicholas Theng’s letter “Let rational minds prevail” (The Star, Aug 9).

Theng argues, first of all, that because the federal Barisan Nasional government refused to build any monorails or LRTs in Penang for the last 10 years, Penangites developed a deep-rooted preference for, and habit of, relying on cars, and that it will take time for them to change. Reasoning that since the LRT (from Komtar to Bayan Lepas) will take seven years to build, and giving one year for people to adapt, he concludes that this will mean another eight years of traffic congestion, and therefore the construction of strategic bypasses (presumably including highways) and public transport is necessary.