Page 74 - SALIK PR REPORT AUGUST 2024

9/2/24, 11:56 AM UAE Traffic: Would An 'Odd-Even Scheme' Help Ease Peak-Hour Jams?

In Dubai, for instance, registered vehicles with Salik tags now stand at 4.2 million , up by 8.8
per cent as compared to the first six months of last year. Registered active accounts,

meanwhile, increased by 14.6 per cent year-on-year – or about 2.5 million at present as
compared to around 2.2 million in the second quarter of 2023.

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Five years ago, Khaleej Times reported – as per data provided by the Roads and Transport

Authority (RTA) – that there was one car for every two residents, or 540 vehicles per 1,000
people; while cities like New York, London, Singapore, and Hong Kong respectively had 305,

213, 101 and 63 vehicles per 1,000 residents.

In 2006, less than two decades ago, the number of registered vehicles in Dubai stood only at
around 740,000. This doubled to 1.4 million in 2015, and reached 1.83 million by 2020. At

present, estimates suggest there are around 3 million cars moving around Dubai on busy
week days, including cars coming from neighbouring emirates.

So, the question is: Would it help if we removed a certain number of cars off the road on

certain days of the week to reduce traffic? Would an 'odd-even scheme' – that is being
implemented in some major cities in the world – help ease peak-hour jams?

Road space rationing

Dr Monica Menendez, associate dean of Engineering for Graduate Affairs at New York

University Abu Dhabi (NYUAD), explained:“The odd-even scheme – also called road space
rationing – simply takes some cars out of the road on different days of the week, depending
on the ending number of the license plate.”

This means vehicles with car plates ending in 1 and 2, are not allowed on the road on
Monday; 3 and 4 on Tuesday; 5 and 6 on Wednesday; 7 and 8 on Thursday; 9 and 0 on

Friday. All vehicles are allowed on the road on Saturday and Sunday, which are weekends.

Dr Monica Menendez. Photo: Supplied
“The scheme has been implemented in multiple cities around the world, including Mexico City,

Athens, and Beijing. While some cities have used it on a permanent or semi-permanent basis,
other cities have used it only on specific days. The policy, often implemented to mitigate air

pollution, has seen different levels of success,” she told Khaleej Times.

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