Road-building is political, while facts are against it

Free Malaysia Today : "If the DAP leaders had taken his concerns seriously and engaged in constructive discussions, I doubt Roger would have taken his ideas publicly. Nothing is more frustrating than having policymakers make decisions based on political expediency rather than data, evidence and scientific analysis and then claiming to do the latter. Chris’s “answers” to Roger’s articles – parroting party line – is a case in point. Recognising and lamenting over traffic congestion is one thing; prescribing failed policies of prioritising building more roads rather than a good public transportation system is like prescribing aspirin to a cancer patient. As Roger pointed out, empirical studies in many countries have shown the futility of the road building frenzy. The new mayor of Houston early this year publicly admitted that investments of over RM10 billion to build and expand the 26-lane Katy freeway did not solve traffic congestion. He said a new paradigm was needed. So why is Penang bent on repeating failure?"