iBummed

Salik (Dubai Toll) – Money Making Scam or Effective?

Today, I am going to be talking about the toll system used in Dubai, known as Salik. The reason I chose to talk about Salik is because of the traffic jams happening everyday on the toll roads and to question the effect of Salik system.
According to the website of Salik, Salik meaning open or clear, is Dubai’s new electronic toll collection system launched in July 2007. The name Salik emphasizes the system’s congestion management objectives as well as the choice of technology for the toll system. The charge is AED 4 ($1.08) each time you cross the toll and there are Toll Gates as of now, Al Safa (Sheikh Zayed Road), Mall of the Emirates (Sheikh Zayed Road), Maktoum Bridge, and Al Gharoud Bridge. They all are in a radius of 25 KM.
Well, the self-claiming RTA said on September 17, 2008 (Link to the article), that the second phase of Salik is a success, and they have numbers which prove it. Wow, so one set of numbers which they have is supposed to be the most reliable, then why don’t they use alternative routes themselves. So, the toll gates are installed to reduce traffic congestion. But whereas if you notice, the traffic has increased even more. There are several reasons for this.

1) I can understand the Gharoud Bridge having the toll because its new and a massive development, and the cost needs to be covered. But the Maktoum Bridge is old, and only one more lane is increased. It was one of the major bridges for transportation. But now, there is toll on that one too. So if a person wants to go to Deira, there are only two free ways, one being Shindagah Tunnel, and the other being Floating Bridge. Even when Maktoum Bridge was freeway, Shindagah Tunnel used to have traffic jam, so it has become worst now. Moreover, if you go through the Floating Bridge, there is an intersection signal which is green only for 10-15 seconds maximum for the side of Floating Bridge whereas for 2 minutes for the side of Maktoum Bridge. Ironically, the cars waiting on the Maktoum Bridge signal would rarely be 30, whereas on the Floating Bridge signal would be around 150+. And me being an ordinary man knows it, I guess the Road and Transport Authority (RTA) should know it by now as they claim to be solving many problems. Are they trying to solve the problem, or force people to pay for Salik, so they can have all the luxuries?

2) The Safa area on Sheikh Zayed Road also is the same situation. There was always traffic in that area, and now, we pay AED 4 and still are in traffic. Moreover, there are 2 toll gates in just a span of 15 kilometers, so if you skip one, the other one is where you will have to pay.

3) Places like Deira, Satwa, Karama, and Bur Dubai already have internal traffic, so even if we take the toll road, we will land up being in a traffic jam.

All I have to say is if I am paying AED 4 for each toll gate I pass, at least the way should be CLEAR how Salik promises to offer. And moreover, there should be enough alternate routes for the people to take so that whoever cannot afford, doesn’t have to stay on the road till Midnight. Also if the RTA claims that they have enough alternative routes, I would like the law to be enforced that their vehicles should only take alternative routes and then they will understand. And to make things worst, the alternative transport in Dubai is of only two types, Buses and Abras. Buses are of no use because they are stuck in the traffic jam too, and there are way more passengers than the capacity of the transportation. And the Metro still has 4 years to go to be functional. Whereas the Abras only serve Dubai and Deira, and in the heat of 50 degrees Celsius, people are forced to use Abras. Dubai claims to have air conditioned bus stops but they are of no use, because they have 8 seats, and at crowded places, the number of people waiting are more than 50. Which lucky 8 out of them will get a chance?
So, as Dubai claims to be a hot spot for tourist destination, is it really ready for it? Can it really offer equal rights to all human beings. Moreover, will the higher authorities realise their mistakes and confess them and change it? These are a few questions left unanswered till some decision is not taken by Dubai. Please leave your comments about this.

I am attaching a few pictures to support what I have to say!

Traffic Jam on the Sheikh Zayed Road Dubai

This is a scene of Sheikh Zayed Road at 2:00 p.m. on September 15, 2008.

Breaking Rules

A person so frustrated, that he is breaking the law as you can see just to get through the traffic jam. This picture is taken on the way to take free way, either Business Bay or Emirates Road.

So there is no difference between the free way and the toll way. So why do we pay the extra AED 4?

Posted in: Uncategorized

This entry was posted on Sunday, December 14th, 2008 at 11:16 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.