Salik pushes into parking payments under new five-year deal

Salik eyes parking and future mobility payments while annual costs stay at 5% to 5.5%

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Nivetha Dayanand, Assistant Business Editor
Mattar Al Tayer, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Salik, witnessed the renewal of the partnership, which was signed by Ibrahim Al Haddad, Chief Executive Officer of Salik and Whitt Hall, Chief Executive Officer of TransCore alongside officials from both companies.
Mattar Al Tayer, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Salik, witnessed the renewal of the partnership, which was signed by Ibrahim Al Haddad, Chief Executive Officer of Salik and Whitt Hall, Chief Executive Officer of TransCore alongside officials from both companies.
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Dubai: Salik is expanding the use of its payment platform beyond Dubai’s toll gates, with parking payments and other future mobility services among the areas supported under a renewed five-year technology partnership with US-based TransCore.

Salik, the exclusive operator of Dubai’s road toll gates, said the renewed agreement will support the efficiency of its existing portfolio while developing the technology needed to extend the platform across parking payments and other current and future mobility services.

The financial impact is expected to remain broadly unchanged from the previous contract, with annual operating expenses expected to remain between 5% and 5.5% of total annual revenues.

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Wider role for Salik payments

The five-year agreement continues an 18-year relationship between Salik and TransCore, which dates back to 2006 when the US company contributed to the design and development of Dubai’s original tolling system.

The latest contract covers the continued development of systems and technologies supporting tolling operations, while also providing for upgrades linked to Salik’s future expansion plans and new services.

Salik said the partnership will explore the deployment of artificial intelligence technologies and advanced digital solutions to improve operational efficiency and system performance, alongside supporting future requirements within Dubai’s mobility network.

Over the next five years, we look forward to leveraging artificial intelligence, advanced technologies and digital solutions to further enhance the future readiness and performance of our operations, while strengthening Salik’s portfolio and expanding its application across a broader range of mobility services.
Ibrahim Al Haddad, Chief Executive Officer of Salik

Costs remain at similar levels

Salik said there has been no material change from the previous contract in terms of the expected financial impact, despite additional contractual, operational and regulatory requirements.

The renewed agreement includes stronger requirements covering sustainability, governance, cybersecurity, maintenance, business continuity and system upgrades designed to accommodate existing services and future initiatives.

Those additions are expected to be managed while annual operating expenses remain within the 5% to 5.5% of total revenue range indicated by the company.

Five more years of technology development

TransCore will continue supporting the development of Dubai’s tolling system while Salik builds out its technological capabilities and broader payment services.

Nivetha Dayanand
Nivetha DayanandAssistant Business Editor
Nivetha Dayanand is Assistant Business Editor at Gulf News, covering aviation, financial markets and commodities. A business and financial journalist with a strong interest in multimedia storytelling, she regularly takes complex financial and economic subjects beyond the written word, producing explainer videos that make them easier for a wider audience to understand. Nivetha has interviewed senior policymakers, business leaders and global financial figures both on and off camera. Her past guests include UAE Minister of Economy and Tourism Abdulla bin Touq Al Marri, Khaled bin Alwaleed Al Saud, a member of the House of Saud and the founder and CEO of KBW Ventures, Jihad Azour, Director of the Middle East and Central Asia Department at the International Monetary Fund and Indian ministers Hardeep Singh Puri and N. Chandrababu Naidu. She has also hosted and moderated panels, conferences and awards shows, bringing her newsroom experience to live conversations on business, finance and the economy. An Erasmus Mundus journalism alum, Nivetha is drawn to stories that affect people directly and to reporting that gives a platform to voices that might otherwise go unheard. She was among the first journalists to speak to Petrofac employees in the UAE about unpaid salaries, broke the news of the planned demolition of Dubai’s well-known “Toyota Building”, and helped set the record straight on widely circulated claims that a giant replica of the Moon was coming to Dubai. More recently, her exclusive interview with EDGE Group CEO Hamad Al Marar revealed how the UAE-based defence group deployed its systems along the country’s shore border and established a geofence around the UAE within 48 hours of the February 28 escalation. Prior to joining Gulf News, Nivetha worked at ITP Media, where she helped launch Finance Middle East, a new publication covering the region’s financial sector. Her role spanned reporting and editing, video production, interviews and events. Across print, digital, and video, she focuses on finding the people behind business stories and explaining why those stories matter to the audience reading or watching them.
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