For whom the Salik bells toll

Today is the 100th day of the introduction of the Salik toll system in Dubai. Since its launch on July 1, it is believed that the road toll system, the first of its kind in the UAE and in the region, has earned revenues of more than Dh200 million.

However, it has done little to ease traffic jams on the targeted road and on roads leading to the controlled zone. On the contrary, the situation has become worse.

As a result, commuters pay for a service they do not receive and the government has already paid for a system which does not work. If the intention was to collect Dh600 million - the predicted annual revenue of the system from Al Garhoud to Al Barsha - the government could have achieved this by imposing direct tax on motorists and collecting it through other means that cost much less than the toll project. Some drivers also say that they were not fined when they crossed the road without Salik tags. This indicates that the system is not foolproof.

The annual revenue comes from the sale of Salik tags in addition to the Dh4 fee deducted electronically from the Salik account when a vehicle passes through one of the two gates currently forming the system. Extra revenues are earned from fines imposed on drivers, who either fail to maintain a balance in their accounts while crossing the gates, or those who pass under the toll gates without having tags affixed to their vehicles on windscreens.

The system was introduced to reduce the number of vehicles using controlled roads (Shaikh Zayed-Shaikh Rashid roads were selected in the first phase) through encouraging motorists to use alternative toll-free routes and thus eliminating or reducing traffic congestion.

The project was introduced to ensure the smooth flow of traffic to and from a number of financial and business centres and the new residential districts located on both sides of the Shaikh Zayed road.

Enforcement

A hundred days after the enforcement of the system, none of the above mentioned goals have been achieved and there is no indication to suggest that we are close to achieving them. Traffic congestion on Shaikh Zayed Road is still delaying more than 100,000 motorists using the road on a daily basis, including students and employees of media and internet cities. The system, which was launched during the traditionally low season of summer, has not helped a lot in the past two months when traffic returned to its normal rate. Traffic experts, other than those of the operator, believe that the phenomenal traffic jams on Shaikh Zayed Road will not ease unless a drastic re-planning of the project is ordered immediately. But, based on the operator's statement, the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA), a revision or a genuine assessment of the project seems remote because the RTA is strongly convinced that the system is a great success and those who are "not experts" should refrain from passing judgment on the performance of the RTA and the toll system!

On June 19, less than three weeks after the system was launched, Mattar Al Tayer, Chairman of the Board and Executive Director of RTA, said that the common people were not traffic experts and stated that the RTA officials were responsible for developing the infrastructure for eliminating traffic congestion on Dubai roads. A few weeks later, he said that the toll project had achieved its target. But, according to a Gulf News survey, 66 per cent of road users voted against the toll system. They felt that the system has not helped in reducing the time spent by motorists on the roads and it has failed to achieve its goal.

Although the RTA stated once that it had not invented the toll system, which is being used successfully in other countries, it should admit that it is the only authority in the world to apply it at two different points on the same road while leaving, in between, scores of arterial roads open for motorists to skip the toll gates and join the main road.

Implementation

The result of the implementation of the toll was manifested on July 1 and onwards. The majority of 140,000 vehicles that use the road daily avoid the toll gate and enter the controlled zone from scores of secondary roads.

Three weeks ago, when the RTA realised its mistake, its expert came up with a worse solution. They have now cut off access to the road from major parts of the city and have more than doubled the distance for others to enter the zone from the few entry points that were kept open.

A few weeks ago, motorists using Dubai roads were surprised to find traffic cones being used to segregate two lanes on the Shaikh Zayed, Shaikh Rashid and Al Ittihad roads for vehicles using the toll system. The abrupt installation of the barriers was not explained properly but, slowly and through trial and error, motorists learnt about the new RTA tactic. The solution has an adverse impact on the environment and the economy since it has resulted in a much longer journey for those driving to Deira, nearly tripling the distance of their journey.

As soon as you leave SZR towards the centre of Dubai you are surprised to find the roads divided in half, one for the Salik users and the other for the free-riders.The annoying thing is that the salik users' road is so much more congested that you can get home faster if you took the free-route. Why are we paying Dh16 per day?
Maha
Dubai,UAE
Posted: October 08, 2007, 14:41

Great article that highlights 100% this project which was not studied properly. However, you have forgot to mention the chaos caused by the gate near mall of the emirates for the nearby residential area, even if you use the toll gate to access The Greens for example from the underpass after the 4th interchange you will still be caught in the traffic of cars avoiding the Salik gates. This is a true problem created by the introduction of the Salik gate near residential area.
Toni
Duabi,UAE
Posted: October 08, 2007, 14:21

I agree with some of the errors you mentioned by RTA, but we cannot blame their efforts to ease the traffic congestion, all they've done till now is just for the sake and good of motorists and I think they deserve the support of road users as well, because most of the times these traffic jams are totally created by motorists. I do appreciate RTA
Asim
Dubai,UAE
Posted: October 08, 2007, 10:04

Kudos to Duraid Al Baik for writing such a good article. RTA is of course doing lot of projects for easing traffic congestion but to be frank It has burnt its fingers with Salik. An expensive useless traffic controlling system. I am a regular user of Salik .If reducing traffic congestion was the sole purpose of RTA then why the hell are gates at two different points on the same road with lots of artillery roads to avoid the salik gates. I am not a traffic expert but i can challenge RTA about the traffic on Garhoud bridge in the evenings towards Sharjah. Its just a stand still.
Karthik
Dubai,UAE
Posted: October 08, 2007, 10:04

Kudos! The article is spot on. I truly believe that Duraid Al Baik has experienced the adverse effect Salik has created unlike those who do not even realize the hardship and then go on to say that Salik is a big success.
Abu Ibrahim
Dubai,UAE
Posted: October 08, 2007, 09:51

Frankly, Salik toll is useless. I'm living in Al Garhoud area beside the Aviation Club and I'm working in Dubai Media City. These days I'm having a horrible journey, about two hours daily to reach my home, even though I'm using both Al Barsha and Al Garhoud toll gates.
Guebaly
Dubai,UAE
Posted: October 08, 2007, 08:35

It is true that the RTA is not the first entity to implement the road toll system; others have already done it successfully in other parts of the world. However the difference between them and the RTA is that they did their homework before waking up one day and saying "Hey how about a road toll system?" Again, RTA lacks proper planning skills to make any project successful.
Wissam
Abu Dhabi,UAE
Posted: October 08, 2007, 08:34

The RTA should re-think their plans. Really it is a very bad plan to earn their revenue by imposing such a system. They could collect their required money at the time of renewal of car registration.
Laxmi
Sharjah,UAE
Posted: October 08, 2007, 07:52

It's been more than three weeks since I bought a Salik tag from Emarat. Till date I have not received my account number.
Bobby
Dubai,UAE
Posted: October 08, 2007, 07:52

The best solution for traffic jam is to introduce a very convenient and cheap bus system covering all the areas of the emirate. When more people use buses then automatically traffic will be reduced.
Imran
Dubai,UAE
Posted: October 08, 2007, 07:46

Salik was launched to ease traffic and reduce the rate of accidents. However, as is clearly understood that from the past three months, it is nothing less than just a trap to get money from the public. The traffic and accidents on the road gets horrific day by day. The only solution is to build more roads and shift school and work timings.
Imran
Dubai,UAE
Posted: October 08, 2007, 07:22

Salik has many mistakes in their database, My tag is in use by another Salik customer. I have many colleagues and friends who have the same issue. In my opinion, this is why the RTA is not posting any fines on commuters who pass without a Salik tag. Salik needs a new management staff, people who implemented this project in places such as Europe and the US.
Ibrahim Kenaan
Dubai,UAE
Posted: October 08, 2007, 01:03