Dubai on Friday announced the launch of two new Salik road toll gates that will become operational by November.
The gates will be installed at the Business Bay Crossing on Al Khail Road and in Al Safa South on Sheikh Zayed Road, between Al Meydan Street and Umm Al Sheif Street.
Authorities said the locations had been chosen following extensive traffic studies in an effort to reduce congestion.
They will bring the number of toll gates across the emirate to 10.
Salik Company – the operator of Dubai’s toll gates – was directed to establish the new gates by Dubai’s Roads and Transport Authority.
Cutting congestion
The authority expects the new Business Bay gate to assist in reducing traffic congestion by 12 per cent to 15 per cent while the gate in Al Safa South is set to cut congestion by 15 per cent.
“The addition of new toll gates in two increasingly busy locations marks the latest milestone in the growth plan that we set out at the time of Salik’s initial public offering,” said Ibrahim Al Haddad, chief executive of Salik Company.
“Our partnership with RTA in launching these new gates is another important step in our journey to enhancing Dubai’s transport infrastructure with smart and sustainable mobility solutions.
“These two new gates aim to improve overall mobility throughout the city, facilitating smoother and more efficient travel for road users.
Mattar Al Tayer, director general of the RTA, said the new toll gates were being rolled out in line with the completion of the Al Khail Road Improvement Project.
The major road scheme will include the construction of of five intersections and ramps.
Mr Al Tayer said Dubai’s road charging strategy was key to its efforts to reduce traffic levels.
“The existing toll gates contributed to reducing the total travel time in Dubai by 6 million hours annually, decreasing traffic volumes on the Al Maktoum and Al Garhoud bridges by 26 per cent, reducing travel times on Sheikh Zayed Road and Al Ittihad Street by 24 per cent, and increasing the number of mass transit users by 9 million riders per annum,” he said.
Boosting revenue
Salik was established in its current form as a public joint stock company in June 2022. Toll use represents about 87 per cent of its revenue.
Since July 2022, Salik has been operating as a separate legal entity from the Roads and Transport Authority through a 49-year concession agreement.
Salik raised Dh3.73 billion ($1 billion) in September 2022 from its initial public offering, which was more than 49 times oversubscribed across all tranches, with total gross demand at Dh184.2 billion.
In December,Salik teamed up with Emaar Malls to deliver a parking management system at Dubai Mall.
Salik technology will be used for automatic fee collection for ticketless parking and vehicle plate recognition to deduct fees from Salik user accounts.
The system is expected to be in operation at Dubai Mall by the third quarter of 2024, the companies said.
Why were tolls introduced in Dubai?
The Salik electronic system was introduced in 2007 to ease congestion on Sheikh Zayed Road and raise state revenue.
Tags fixed to windscreens can be purchased online or at service stations. These can be topped up online or through recharge cards.
Motorists are charged Dh4 to pass through each gate and the amount is deducted automatically from the card. The eight existing toll gates are at the following locations:
- Al Barsha
- Al Garhoud
- Al Maktoum
- Al Mamzar South
- Al Mamzar North
- Al Safa
- Airport Tunnel
- Jebel Ali
When the most recent toll gate was introduced in Jebel Ali in 2018, transport officials said it could reduce traffic by about 25 per cent.
Dubai’s Roads and Transport Authority also wants more vehicles funnelled out to Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Road (311) and Emirates Road (611).
Transport agencies are stepping up efforts to ease congestion and boost road safety amid a continuing population boom.
Dubai’s population currently stands at more than 3.65 million, following a post-coronavirus rise in migration.
The Roads and Transport Authority is seeking to reduce traffic levels through a comprehensive road-building strategy and is also working to bolster public transport options in order to take more cars off the roads.
