'Salik brought down traffic congestion by 20pc'
Mattar Al Tayer, Chairman of the Board and Executive Director of Roads and Transport Authority (RTA), has said the traffic congestions in Dubai have come down by 20 per cent after the introduction of Salik, the road toll system.
He was speaking at a ceremony held to honour the team of workers overseeing the Toll Gate System on Tuesday.
Al Tayer praised the efforts of the team which worked day and night to deliver the project on time.
“Salik is one of the pioneer projects in the region as well as the world, as testified by world-class experts specialised in traffic systems. The project succeeded in achieving the targets in terms of reducing traffic congestion on Shaikh Zayed Road and Al Garhoud Bridge by 20 per cent and on some days by 50 per cent. Many passengers are now using alternative roads and public transport modes. The number of Salik tags sold in the first two months of launching the system was over 700,000.
“Salik is the first-ever toll project in the world to use SMS to keep subscribers informed of their subscription status and balances. Text messages are sent at intervals on mobile phones alerting subscribers that their balances are approaching zero. An SMS is also being sent once an offence is committed.”
Al Tayer added that the toll gates constructed were the widest in the world, as they spanned over seven lanes. They were fitted with sensors which automatically deducted the specified tariff when a vehicle crosses the e-gate.
He pointed out that many countries in the region and some advanced countries sent teams to Dubai to review the experiment of the RTA in introducing the toll gate system, and all of them hailed the system and technologies used.
“Before implementing this project, the RTA had conducted a comprehensive traffic and economic survey of the locations in which the toll gates would be installed and the applicable tariff rate. The RTA had also sought expertise of renowned companies in this field,” said Al Tayer.
He stated that the underlying reason for installing the toll gates was not the financial gains, which were quite negligible compared to the huge funds allocated by the RTA to roads projects — estimated to be in the tune of Dh45 billion up to 2020, of which Dh8 billion worth of road projects were currently under way.
He said as per the instructions of Shaikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Chairman of Dubai Executive Council, the RTA donated the six weeks’ proceeds of Salik to “Dubai Cares” campaign.
Besides, a large number of government entities and individuals had been exempted from Salik like vehicles of armed forces, police and civil defence, which carry their respective logos, as well as vehicles dedicated for transportation of students of schools, institutes and universities, and public transport buses of the RTA.
The RTA had also decided to exclude vehicles belonging to establishments and clubs engaged in serving individuals with special needs from Salik charges. Source
He was speaking at a ceremony held to honour the team of workers overseeing the Toll Gate System on Tuesday.
Al Tayer praised the efforts of the team which worked day and night to deliver the project on time.
“Salik is one of the pioneer projects in the region as well as the world, as testified by world-class experts specialised in traffic systems. The project succeeded in achieving the targets in terms of reducing traffic congestion on Shaikh Zayed Road and Al Garhoud Bridge by 20 per cent and on some days by 50 per cent. Many passengers are now using alternative roads and public transport modes. The number of Salik tags sold in the first two months of launching the system was over 700,000.
“Salik is the first-ever toll project in the world to use SMS to keep subscribers informed of their subscription status and balances. Text messages are sent at intervals on mobile phones alerting subscribers that their balances are approaching zero. An SMS is also being sent once an offence is committed.”
Al Tayer added that the toll gates constructed were the widest in the world, as they spanned over seven lanes. They were fitted with sensors which automatically deducted the specified tariff when a vehicle crosses the e-gate.
He pointed out that many countries in the region and some advanced countries sent teams to Dubai to review the experiment of the RTA in introducing the toll gate system, and all of them hailed the system and technologies used.
“Before implementing this project, the RTA had conducted a comprehensive traffic and economic survey of the locations in which the toll gates would be installed and the applicable tariff rate. The RTA had also sought expertise of renowned companies in this field,” said Al Tayer.
He stated that the underlying reason for installing the toll gates was not the financial gains, which were quite negligible compared to the huge funds allocated by the RTA to roads projects — estimated to be in the tune of Dh45 billion up to 2020, of which Dh8 billion worth of road projects were currently under way.
He said as per the instructions of Shaikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Chairman of Dubai Executive Council, the RTA donated the six weeks’ proceeds of Salik to “Dubai Cares” campaign.
Besides, a large number of government entities and individuals had been exempted from Salik like vehicles of armed forces, police and civil defence, which carry their respective logos, as well as vehicles dedicated for transportation of students of schools, institutes and universities, and public transport buses of the RTA.
The RTA had also decided to exclude vehicles belonging to establishments and clubs engaged in serving individuals with special needs from Salik charges. Source
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