00:00Music
00:10Every morning and evening, Penang's traffic congestion is a daily reality.
00:14Its roads are under daily strain with traffic building along the island's bridges,
00:18and rush hour turns commutes into gridlock.
00:21And soon, it will face a new challenge.
00:23The Mutiara LRT, a 29.5km light rail system with 21 stations connecting the airport,
00:32Georgetown and beyond, promises to transform how Penang guides travel.
00:36But first, the island must endure years of construction.
00:40Much of the rail line runs along the fringes of dense, heritage-rich neighbourhoods
00:44where road space is limited.
00:46Roads will be narrowed, lanes closed, and diversions created.
00:50Engineers say hotspots like Comtar, Magazine Road, Sunny Point and Jalan Sultan Azlan Shah
00:56will face the heaviest impact.
00:58General Manager for SRS LRT Mohamad Faiz Daud said,
01:02while his team has experience building metros through urban areas,
01:06such as the Kajang MRT and Putrajaya MRT in Kuala Lumpur and Selangor,
01:10replicating the same on Penang does not mean that it is a walk in the park.
01:14In Penang, you have limited ROWs.
01:18Right and left is only the buildings.
01:20So you cannot acquire everything on the right and left.
01:23So what you have, your choice is only to put in the middle of the road.
01:27So when you put in the middle of the road, you are minimizing the existing lane.
01:32So this is how, what is the challenges to be.
01:36So this is why we introduce, you know, more robust,
01:41make sure that traffic is smooth during our construction.
01:49To ease the pain, SRS LRT is deploying eyes in the sky.
01:53Drones will monitor congestion in real time, track bottlenecks,
01:56and even alert emergency responders to accidents.
01:59Project Director for SRS Consortium Sendirian Berhad, Adil Putra Ahmad,
02:04says the vantage point provided by drones allows prompt actions to be taken.
02:08Flying these drones will require a permit and approval from CAAM,
02:13the Aviation Authority.
02:15So we have to apply for the permit.
02:17They give us a permit for certain period, for certain days.
02:20So our drone flight schedule follows that approval.
02:23Most of the time, we take the footage, get the drone to fly, take the footage,
02:27we come back and we analyze.
02:29And from there, we do our study.
02:31Okay, this one is the 3D photo that we also capture from drone.
02:35So we use this to study the possible options.
02:40And because it's 3D, then it's easier to see, you know.
02:44The value of drones is that they can provide real-time traffic monitoring
02:47to identify congested areas, map out traffic patterns,
02:51and detect potential bottlenecks by tracking how traffic flows.
02:55All this information flows into a hub called SATCOM,
02:58the Surveillance Enforcement and Traffic Command Center.
03:01Here, data from drones, ground sensors and government agencies
03:05is combined to manage traffic and even detect hazards such as flash floods.
03:10Beyond traffic studies and drone surveillance,
03:12engagement with the community has been central.
03:15From residents and factory operators to religious institutions,
03:19stakeholders are being consulted about construction schedules, noise, and disruptions.
03:24They say the work will be done until what time, until what time.
03:28They will do from start what time, until what time.
03:30They say noisy, dusty, but we say no problem.
03:34This is a government project.
03:36The project is only for the rakyat.
03:38So we support them.
03:39For many, the LRT is more than just a transport system.
03:43It represents progress.
03:45Even with inconveniences, communities say they are willing to endure temporary hardship
03:49for the long-term benefit of the people.
03:51Collaboration with employers and government agencies is key.
03:55Companies in the free industrial zone are being asked to stagger bus arrivals,
03:59easing peak hour congestion.
04:01Measures such as staggering work hours and rerouting via apps like Waze will help reduce the burden.
04:08There are some areas where the traffic disruption will be very short.
04:12There are some areas where the disruption will be slightly longer,
04:16depending on what we have to build over there.
04:20But it's not five years road closure or five years traffic jam everywhere.
04:25It's certain areas.
04:26And normally what we do, like what we did on the MRT project,
04:29once we constructed infrastructure such that we can make good the road below,
04:37then we open it up.
04:39Some parts will be released by stages by stages.
04:42So it means that in three years, you only have a few locations that have been disrupted,
04:47then other parts will be released mostly by stages.
04:52So we hope that people in Penang would stay calm.
04:57So let us do our work.
04:59Then we will manage all the traffic to make sure it runs smoothly,
05:04minimize the disruptions of the lockdown in Penang.
05:07By 2031, Penang's first LRT trains will roll out,
05:11connecting the airport, Silicon Island and Georgetown.
05:15For now, it means patience and planning.
05:17Short-term pain, long-term gain.
05:19The Mutiara LRT is more than tracks and stations.
05:22It is an investment in Penang's future mobility.
05:26So, weigh it out.
05:28You're not going to get in touch with people.
05:29I'm not going to get along.
05:31I'm not going to reach out,
05:33I'm not going to go to the region,
05:34but I'm not going to go to the park.
05:36I'm not going to be the next one.
05:38You're going to get up to the reruns.
05:39You're going to go to the house.
05:40I've been doing a trip.
05:41You're going to go to the local area,
05:42the place where I'm going to drive the road.
05:43You're going to be the next hour.
05:45And we go to the sun.
05:46There's going to be now.
05:47I'm going to be the proper place.
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