UAE | Traffic and Transport
Authority waives all Salik fines incurred during first week of toll
Toll gate not to make money but to reduce traffic congestion on Shaikh Zayed Road, says Al Tayer
- By Ashfaq Ahmed, Staff Reporter
- Published: 00:00 September 28, 2007
- Toll gate not to make money but to reduce traffic congestion on Shaikh Zayed Road, says Al Tayer.
- Image Credit: Gulf News Archive
Dubai: All Salik fines incurred during the first week of the road toll system have been waived.
"We have waived all the fines imposed on motorists who used Salik gates without Salik tags during the first week of July," said Mattar Al Tayer, Chairman and Executive Director of the Dubai Roads and Transport Authority (RTA).
He said RTA took the decision to facilitate motorists because RTA's main aim in introducing Salik is not to make money but to reduce traffic congestion on Shaikh Zayed Road.
RTA introduced the toll system with the installation of two toll gates - one near Al Garhoud Bridge and the other near Mall of the Emirates on Shaikh Zayed Road.
A motorist must pay Dh4 through an electronic tag fixed on the car each time he or she passes through the Salik gates. "Salik has worked well and we have witnessed a 20 per cent reduction in traffic on Shaikh Zayed Road," he said.
Al Tayer said the main aim of Salik is to have less congestion on Shaikh Zayed Road, which is the business hub of Dubai.
"By introducing Salik, we have reduced travel time to the airport from hotels and business hubs on the road, and have provided fast passage for emergency vehicles and ambulances," he said.
About introducing the toll system on other Dubai roads, he said there is no immediate plan.
"But we are conducting studies as part of our traffic management policies," he added. He dispelled the impression that RTA is making a great deal of money from Salik.
"It [does not generate] even the cost of one interchange that we build in Dubai," he said, but did not give any figures about revenue generated by Salik.
Alternative routes
Al Tayer said a number of Middle Eastern countries have contacted RTA to learn from its experience and to seek expertise in implementing a toll system similar to Salik in their countries.
"There are some traffic congestion problems but they are temporary and will be solved when the road network construction is complete.
"We are improving alternative routes and it will take two to three years."
Share this article
More from UAE Traffic and Transport
More from UAE
Popular in UAE
-
Have your say
Living in untidy homes
Do you think that people who live in untidy homes have bad character?
Latest news
- Emirati students in US set to rise
- No friends of mother Earth
- Tussle on for tertiary students
- Faded parking lines pose a problem
- UAE to announce H1N1 vaccination campaign
- Focus on best methods of crime investigation
- Benefits of pill-sized camera displayed
- Prosecutions need to adopt new technologies
- Big decline in robberies in Dubai
- Ministry to shut down typing centres
- Car stickers to identify new drivers on road
- So what will it take to float Gulf News' boat?
- Desalination faces 'severe' challenges
- Arab world's future is with solar energy
- Compulsory fitness test for new drivers
Community Reports
-
Faded parking lines pose a problem
Motorists could be fined for parking incorrectly even though they can hardly see the boundaries in the designated areas
-
School buses block residential parking
Commercial vehicles taking up free parking facilities in Al Wuheida, inconveniencing residents in surrounding villas
-
Community report: Doing their bit for poor children
A group of students takes concrete action to raise funds for Dubai Cares
-
Surprising truth of 'abandoned cars'
An Abu Dhabi resident believes that some mechanics are using parking spaces as rent-free workshops
