Page 424 - SALIK ENGLISH PR REPORT NOVEMBER 2024

Cutting congestion
The authority expects the new Business Bay gate to help reduce traffic
congestion by between 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," Mr Al Haddad said in January.
After the January announcement, Mattar Al Tayer, director general of the
RTA, said Dubai's road toll strategy was key to its efforts to reduce traffic.
"The existing toll gates contributed to reducing the total travel time in Dubai
by six million hours annually, decreasing traffic volumes on 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 nine million riders per annum," he said.

Boosting revenue
Salik was established in its current form as a public joint stock company in
June 2022. Tolls represent about 87 per cent of its revenue.
Since July 2022, Salik has been operating as a separate legal entity from the
RTA 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 joined Emaar Malls to deliver a parking management
system at Dubai Mall. The plan aimed to use Salik technology for automatic
fee collection for ticketless parking and vehicle plate recognition to deduct
fees from Salik user accounts.
Why were tolls introduced in Dubai?
The Salik 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. They can be topped up online or through
recharge cards.
Motorists are charged Dh4 to pass through each gate, with the amount is
deducted automatically. The eight other toll gates are at the following 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. The RTA aims to
reduce traffic levels through a comprehensive road-building strategy and is
also working to bolster public transport options to take more cars off the
roads.
Updated: November 01, 2024, 9:56 AM

https://www.thenationalnews.com/news/uae/2024/11/01/dubais-two-new-salik-toll-gates-to-be-
activated-on-november-24/