UAE | Traffic and Transport
Alternative routes feel the pressure of new toll system
Gulf News readers express misgivings at second phase of RTA initiative but agree that paying for quality roads is something acceptable.
- By Samah Al Kaff and Mohammad Jihad, Community Journalists
- Published: 23:25 September 9, 2008
Dubai: Gulf News readers feel cornered without sufficient alternate routes as two more tollgates opened on Tuesdayday.
With the new Al Maktoum Bridge and Al Safa tollgates becoming operational, readers have fewer toll-free options in Dubai to get to their destination.
Majid Khalid, a Pakistani general manager, has not seen any improvements since the launch of Salik, especially after the two new gates started functioning. He said that they are, in fact, leading to traffic congestions in areas around the tollgates.
"Salik will not help the traffic problem because the number of cars that are on the road are more than the capacity of the routes available in Dubai," said Khalid. "So adding more Salik tollgates will not make it better."
Markus Stebich, a German architect, agreed. He said: "Salik is pushing people to use alternate roads that are not equipped to handle such traffic."
Paying for convenience
"I do not think it helps when everyone takes the alternate roads, as it causes even more congestion," said Katherine Nash, a South African paramedic. "If everyone pays a little now and then, I think traffic would flow smoothly."
She uses non-toll roads but if they are congested, she does not mind paying Salik for the convenience.
However, according to Stebich, putting a tollgate at a time when there are not many effective modes of mass transport available will not ease traffic, and the location of the tollgates could have been better.
Khalid said, "If the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) has a new planning system for the new Salik, then it might work, otherwise nothing will change."
He had experienced many technical difficulties with Salik, initially, when he had been charged for violations he did not commit.
A problem Naim Noor Al Deen, a Lebanese mechanical engineer, faces regarding Salik is that the RTA is not transparent enough.
On the other hand, Nash does not think Salik tollgates are all that bad.
"The roads in the UAE are in excellent condition and I do not think people should expect to use them without a little contribution," Nash said.
Noor Al Deen agreed with Nash and said that the Salik system is a good idea and that it makes people think if they really need to use their car.
"Salik might not be the best solution but I think without it the congestion could be worse," said Al Deen.
Salik is pushing people to use alternate roads that are not equipped to handle such traffic."
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