A new post will start operating in Dubai this week, charging a fee from car owners on the Salik system.
Starting October 24, a new stretch of the Salik-based road opens on the Shaikh Zayed road in Jebel Ali, Dubai, next to the Energy Metro.
Recall, Salik is an electronic toll system in Dubai from the Office of Roads and Transport (RTA). The system automatically charges fare using special tags (Salik tag) in cars. This ensures unhindered traffic. Each time a car crosses such an entrance, a charge of 4 dirhams ($ US 1.09) is deducted from the car owner’s account.
The new site will be the third on Shaikh Zayed Road and the seventh in Dubai. Fee will be charged on vehicles moving in both directions.
“Motorists will be able to use alternative roads such as Emirates Road, Shaikh Mohammad bin Zayed Road, Shaikh Zayed Bin Hamdan Road and Al Khail Road,” said Mattar Al Thayer, CEO and Chairman of the Board of RTA.
He added that the new section will ease the load on Shaikh Zayed Road, one of the busiest highways in Dubai, and also encourage people to use public transport.
"Shaikh Zayed Road offers many types of public transport, such as a metro line ... and 12 bus routes served by 156 buses that make 1.4 thousand trips per day," Al Thayer said.
A recent study by the RTA showed that toll roads significantly reduced the load on the Shaikh Zayed Road, redistributing up to 25 percent of the traffic to alternative routes.
The Al Yalayes and Al Asayel Roads projects include additional entry and exit points for areas such as Al Furjan, Discovery Gardens and Jebel Ali Development.
