SALIK is working, but in a Bad Way

Living in Al Barsha and around the Greens I am subject to a daily dose of "SALIK Dodgers". These people do everything they can to avoid paying SALIK. They even seem to add 30 minutes to their commute by causing massive bottle necks in neighborhoods.

I just don't understand. I balance the SALIK use. Three days a week I use it to go to work, and I save 15-20 minutes off my commute time. Two days a week I wake-up earlier and drive the side roads. I never use it to go home as I am not in a big rush usually.

So I spend ...are you ready.....12-16 AED a week. Or about 4 US Dollars.

These drivers that dodge SALIK are not driving small cheap cars. So why can't they use the SALIK? Why can't they afford it?

I was thinking. Most high performance cars run best at speed; not in a traffic congested mess. In fact, you are often presented with two different equations when calculating the value of a used car. A high mileage car that has earned its Ks on long high-speed roads is not devalued as much a car that is used in a congested daily commute.

It makes you wonder if the 20 AED a week most people are saving by not using SALIK one-way is worth the value they are losing on their cars. Plus let us not forget that they are losing time everyday too. It is almost like they have no value on their time or for their time.

When I use SALIK I get from the parking at home (then I sit and wait 5 mins or so to cut through the river of traffic) to the parking at my work in about 8 mins. Totally worth not sitting in a river of traffic stocked full of people too cheap to spend 5 US Dollars a week --while driving 50,000 Dollar Cars.

Salik

My observations since Salik's implementation are as follows:

a) More traffic on the "free exits" before the two Salik points
b) Still a gridlock on the Barsha toll gate (more compared to pre-Salik @ peak hours)
c) More traffic onto Sofouh Road leaving Media City (peak hours)
d) More traffic on the junction leading to Madinat Jumeirah (peak hours)
d) Bottle-neck (non-existent pre-Salik) onto the entrance to Business Bay Bridge (from Dubai direction)
e) Shaikh Zayed Road seems to be a little less busy at off-peak hours
f) Day-by-day, Dubai's floating bridge (peak hours) is packed, Sharjah direction
g) Last but not least, I've overheard impatient Salik-customers at petrol stations request if Salik tags were available. Station attendants responded that there is a quota on the number of tags they receive, and they are out of stock.

Just over a month into Salik, would you say it's been good for you, or not?

Not so Salik

This Salik thing is getting highly irritating. The RTA guys keep changing their words. Now they say that Salik is on a trial basis and Al Tayer said currently there are no plans to increase the number of toll gates.

I also find this unfair:

Al Tayer said that tourists who visit Dubai even for one day and plan to use the road with the Salik toll gates will have pay Dh100 for the tag.

He said if a car breaks down and is moved by a tow truck through the gates, fees will be charged for both vehicles.

I got my Salik card today. Just a note for those who are still to buy theirs. If the car is under your name, you just need a copy of the Car Registration Card (both sides). If the car is under a company name, you also need a copy of the Trade License alongwith the Car Registration Card. You fill out a form with basic details (Name, Date of Birth, Mobile numbers etc). One Salik account can be used for ten cars, so you don't need many individual account numbers if the car owner is the same.

I also got it clarified that Salik sticker cannot be stuck on car tints. So what happens to those super-tinted cars?


PS: For some reason, I can't use the hyperlink option, so I'm just going to paste the direct link. Here is the source: http://www.gulfnews.com/nation/Traffic_and_Transport/10133426.html

Salik news, as reported

"Dubai: New Salik toll gates will be installed on two new locations including Al Maktoum Bridge and the Second Interchange on Shaikh Zayed Road, Dubai Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) announced on Tuesday.

The two new toll gates will be activated from September 9 as part of the second phase of Salik system,” said Mattar Al Tayer, Chairman of the Board and Executive Director of the RTA.

Motorists entering or exiting from Al Safa Road from the Second Interchange on Shaikh Zayed Road will also have to pay the toll. However, they will not be charged again if they use the Al Barsha toll gate as they will be charged once (Dh4) for using both the toll gates.

Al Tayer said the new phase of the Salik project comes after a comprehensive study of the first phase and especially after the opening of the new Al Garhoud Bridge. The study focused on the traffic jams at some major roads in Dubai and the alternatives that can resolve this issue.

The study also highlighted the success of the first phase of Salik which was launched in July 2007, in reducing traffic at toll areas by 25 per cent, lowering the duration of the journey on Shaikh Zayed road by 50 per cent and increasing the average speed from 40 to 80 km/hour.

The study showed high traffic load on Al Maktoum Bridge which caused traffic congestions at some internal roads in Deira. It also pointed to congestions at Al Barsha and Al Sofouh due to the traffic load caused by motorists crowding to avoid passing the Al Barsha toll gate.

The study concluded on the high necessity to launch a new phase of Salik on the congested roads and the need to redistribute traffic on major roads and creek crossings especially after launching the new Garhoud Bridge.

He also mentioned that some motorists avoid crossing under Al Barsha gate by using internal roads that caused congestions at Al Barsha and Al Sofouh and caused disturbance to residents in the area.

The only solution to resolve this issue is by installing new toll gate after Al Safa Bridge on Shaikh Zayed Road."

(source)

Any comments?

Salik Sequel

Hello!

I'm writing this to judge what people think about the Sequel to the amazing movie called Salik (first released last year sometime?). We all know we have a bit transport problem in Dubai and the nearby Emirates. However I don't think more Salik gates is the answer.

To avoid this being called a tax-for-nothing, why not phase it in after the metro is running? This will give people a real choice to use Salik or another mode of transport. Why not charge people for journeys during peak times only? Honestly, if I'm driving at 2am, why should I pay when the road is salik anyway!

I've raised this before, but it seems that the RTA is very slowly moving in the right direction. Apparently you'll only be charged for using the Maktoum Bridge toll if the floating bridge is open. This makes sense. Yuppie!

Also let's hope we get more transparent charing, as well as easy access to stickers and top up services etc. All sounds very simple, but the reality is usually far from it.

I wonder, do motorcyclists have to pay? Where do they install the sticker? Surely they cause congestion too in the eyes of the RTA...

Anyway, the floor is yours people...

Tollgates & traffic

As reported in the press, Salik revenues are estimated at Dhs. 600 mil p.a., meaning that the 2 existing Dubai tollgates are passed through at least ca. 411,000 times daily in total.

So many cars using Salik, and my guess is at least 1/4 of the above amount are "Salik-dodgers" - what other explanation is there for the excessive jams at the free exits at peak times?

I wonder what toll charges will be implemented at the 8 additional gates planned for 2010; how effective the Metro will be, and if traffic will indeed be "clearer" in due course.

I still cannot understand why there is a bottleneck at peaktimes at the tollgates despite the introduction of Salik, and why traffic is chocka-block from 5-6.30pm on Shaikh Zayed Road heading towards Dubai.

It's really not too late to implement other "solutions" while the city is still relatively "young". All in all, I believe things will work out for the better.

The Salik Song

(Please sing in tune of OMC's - How Bizzare)


Brother Ahmed's in the back
Sweet Sameena's in the front
Cruising down the freeway
In the hot, hot sun

Suddenly yellow orange lights
Flash us from behind
Loud voice
"all will please stick a salik on the front"

Ahmed breathes words of comfort
Sameena just hides her eyes
RTA taps his shades
Is that a Salik tag?

How bizarre
How bizarre
How bizarre

Destination Garhoud!
Home is across SZR!
As we pull in for some gas
A freshly pasted poster
Reveals a Salik from the pack

How bizarre
How bizarre
How bizarre

Ooh baby, (ooh baby)
It's making me crazy, (it's making me crazy)
Everytime I look around
Look around
Everytime I look around
Everytime I look around
Everytime I look around
It's in my face
It's in my face

Toll roads are coming to Dubai. Is that Salik?

Quoting Gulf News:

From July this year, motorists using Shaikh Zayed Road and Al Garhoud Bridge will have to pay a road toll. As part of the first phase of the introduction of the toll system in Dubai, the stretch of Shaikh Zayed Road, starting from the Fourth Interchange [near Mall of the Emirates] to Al Garhoud Bridge will be a "toll-controlled area."

"The toll system will be called Salik which in Arabic means clear," said Maitha Obaid Bin Udai, Chief Executive Officer of the Traffic and Roads Agency at the Dubai Roads and Transport Authority (RTA).

She said Salik has been chosen as the brand name because it reflects the logic behind the toll system, which is to ensure smooth traffic flow.
...
Motorists crossing Al Garhoud Bridge or entering Shaikh Zayed Road from the Fourth Interchange will be charged Dh4 per entry.

The charge will be in both directions and round-the-clock. Toll gates will be installed at both locations. Also, a motorist who enters from Al Garhoud Bridge and exits from the Fourth Interchange and vice versa, will have to pay at both locations.
...
"The main idea of introducing Salik is to reduce congestion and for better traffic management on Shaikh Zayed Road, one of the most crowded highways in the city, and to make motorists use alternate routes and other mode of transportation," said Maitha.

One problem with the logic of this proposal is that it does not take into account time of day. This section of road is more congested at some times and the charge should be higher at those times.

Some will criticize the plan because there are few alternative routes and there is little mass transportation. But you do have the alternative of staying off the road and traveling off peak. Or consolidating your trips. Many people on the road are not commuting to commuting to work or school. There does need to be a midday rush. And there is the alternative of car pooling (to share the toll cost) - except ridesharing is currently illegal!

It's not just Dubai that's looking at tolls to solve traffic congestion problems. See here, and here.

Of course we should keep in mind that what we say we are going to do in Dubai, and what we do do doesn't always match up. Tolls have been promised (threatened?) since March 2005 according to this December 2005 GN story.

RTA Metro v RTA Salik?

Dear readers,

A very important question has tickled my curiously from reading the last blog post on this blog, so I will as you a quick question:

Are you more happy with RTA's Metro today OR with RTA's Salik so far?

When thinking about the RTA's Metro, please consider the early teething problems as well as any potential in the future for it to be a success of sorts or any other factors you think are relevant :)

A simple "Metro" or "Salik" response would be great, but I doubt I'll get that! Everyone can vote, you don't need to have a car or pay your Salik or have tried the metro at all!

Thanks.

Avoiding SALIK

Today as I headed home I tried avoiding SALIK by taking Business Bay Bridge. As I passed under it I decided to stop in the mud nearby and take this shot. It's one of the best shots I've taken. SALIK ain't that bad to think of it now!!! ;)Anyone else got any positive SALIK-related stories to share?

My love for Salik

OK.. Almost every single blogger in the UAE has given their words of wisdom on why they hate Salik.. After a lot of thought, and after reading what others have said I have come up with something slightly different. However, even photographic evidence from just 2005 shows how lovely and empty our roads were back then.

This post is all about what I love about Salik, and the things I would do to make it better.(etc.)

...To continue the post please click here...

Confessions of a Salik Fan because it Suits Me.

8:15 am, in the morning, still in bed trying to stretch the weekend to a few more minutes a few more seconds, until I am awaken from my half asleep and half awake state, "Come on honey, today is your first SALIK day", says hubby who has a reason to be snide because he rides against the traffic everyday from Burdubai to Diera. Sighing, I drag myself out of the bed lazily and finally I am awake after a quick shower. I put on the least fussy clothes, hair and makeup, a glass of milk and I am ready to go.
8:45 am, drive out the Bur Dubai Golden Sands, into the mainstream traffic where the construction of Dubai underground is going on. Traffic seems similar to any other day though I am curious to know what happens after I cross the Trade Centre to which I get after two red lights.
8:55 am, cross the under pass and am now on the Sheikh Zayed road. I notice that the traffic which on most days was very slow here is moving fast. I move my car to the left lane and “step on it”. I feel a strange sense of relief and my car is off to a good start. I am hoping that I don't get delayed near the exit 47 (the exit to avoid Salik on SZR). I pass the exit with little or no difference in my speed. On the other hand I see cars queuing up to the next exit before the media city.
9:00 am, successfully pass under the toll gate although I am wondering that since I pasted my tag on the left instead of the centre of the windshield as per instructions, would it make a difference and whether I would be fined for not pasting it in the centre. You might ask me why I didn't just paste it in the centre. Well, I took a call on better aesthetics. I know it still is not something that I would like to paste on my car especially because it's orange but I thought it would still do some justice to my car by placing it on the side rather than the centre and making it less obvious.
9:05 am, slide smoothly into the media city and feel that it's not so bad to live in Bur Dubai after all.
(my husband on the other hand says that it took him 2 hours to get to his office in Deira from Burdubai).

SALIK is stupid.

And not because of the cost or the imaginary congestion that some of its nay-sayers claim it will create.

It's stupid because the people who designed it would get an F in just about any urban planning or public administration class on the planet. In my eyes, its most glaring deficiencies are:

1) There is no mechanism for people without a SALIK sticker to pay the toll. This is contrary to just about every toll system ever devised. Sure, it makes sense to charge a higher toll to people without a sticker who slow things down by driving through an actual physical gate, but it's completely unacceptable for the government to make it mandatory to purchase a sticker. What if I only drive through once every six weeks? Why should I pay for some stupid sticker for Dubai tolls if I live in Sharjah? And what happens if Abu Dhabi or Sharjah decide to have toll roads? Will my SALIK sticker work for the whole country or will I be covering my windshield with extraneous stickers for toll roads I rarely use?

2) Isn't it ill advised to have a toll system that charges two ways? I've spent some time on the island of Manhattan, which has an absolutely HUGE amount of high density daily commuter traffic. Why is it that the government there charges people to get into New York City, but not to leave it? It's a simple answer really -- they don't want traffic congestion to build up inside the city.

3) Finally, it's a question of accountability. There's been a lot of talk about the 600 million AED that will be raised annually by this toll and how it will help the community. How exactly is that going to occur? Who determines what gets spent on what? What checks and balances are in place to insure that this money will be spent responsibly?

In a representative democracy the government would be accountable to the people with regard to the monies it raises from taxes and tariffs. If enough people felt the government has failed them in this respect, then the government is voted out of office. What happens if this money (which comes out of our pockets) is spent recklessly? What redress under the law can people who live in an absolute monarchy seek?

I don't have a problem with toll roads. I think it's a smart idea for the city to generate revenue with which to maintain its roads. I think it would be an even better idea to ELECT a civilian commission that would have OVERSIGHT on how that money was spent.

Salik as mud...

Recent changes have meant that I will probably have to cross Garhoud Bridge and through Interchange 4 at least twice each day, so I have to take Salik seriously. So I went to the website to download the registration form...

What a joke. Only download is an irrelevant set of pictures showing how to fix the tag to your windscreen.

No forms.

No maps of alternative routes.

No way to find out whether I will pay Dhs 1x4, Dhs 2x4 or Dhs 4x4 for my journey.

And worse, in today's Gulf News, the RTA spokesman repeating the assertion that Salik "will encourage car pooling", which last I heard Dubai Police still say is illegal...

Then they go on to lecture us road users like petulant children, saying we know nothing about traffic management. Maybe true. But we sure do know a great deal about the RTA's corresponding ineptitude, with world class examples of total traffic mismanagement a daily expeience on Dubai's otherwise excellent roads.

C'mon RTA, find a way to save face, and postpone the implementation of this idiotic scheme. And prove that it is genuinely intended to alter traffic flow by charging only during peak hours. Otherwise, we can only regard it as a clumsy and greedy exercise in highway robbery.

July 1st, huh? Roll on chaos...

Back to Salik

The school holidays have come to an end; the summertime is over.

People are back in town, and the season has just started.

That means cars are back on the roads, and the routine has re-started, only that Salik is fully on the agenda.

What differences have you noted?

Only in the last few days, I see that Jumeirah Beach Road is busy at peak-hours, starting from Mercato onwards (heading towards Al Diyafah St). The "last free exits" are still as busy as ever, post-Salik.

Are the "alternative routes" getting more popular?

Playing the Devil's Advocate

I thought long and hard before penning down my thoughts. I could foresee the outrage of angry eyes shaking their heads furiously at my post wanting to come and stone me to death at my outrageous comment. I kept thinking should I or should I not but then being such a daredevil I thought what the heck, I'll say it and risk the wrath and anger of all the readers living in Dubai.

I actually think the government knew what they were doing when they instituted Salik - Salik means 'clear' and for people living in Garhoud to see the Garhoud Bridge deserted at 6:30 pm[a sight as beautiful as it's unbelievable] one must think that the government knew what they were doing and they knew it would work, because it has!!

That said, of course I think that the toll is excessive and I think that maybe they should have timings for it like they do in Singapore [like they do for parking here] and companies should pay for it, but as far as getting their goal accomplished, Salik's done that. As long as they don't decide to toll any more roads - as not only will it defeat the purpose but also become more crippling then it is now.

An addendum/P.S.:
A reader actually misunderstood what I thought was very clear in the first line - the 'angry eyes' mentioned are yours dear readers as you read what I have to say and the 'stone me to death' was metaphorically referring to the angry comments to that would necessarily follow

Another word on Salik...

After three days of not being able to get into their website, finally this evening I have.

I clicked on 'News' to see what the reports of today's traffic chaos might be.

Stupid, I know. I'm in Dubai and I'm expecting a website to be up-to-date!

Here's the latest news from the RTA, copy & paste from their website this evening, July 1st:




NEWS

RTA selling Salik tags in petrol stations and banks in preparation for official
launch July 1
- June 04, 2007


RTA continues preparations to activate Salik on July 1st
- June 03, 2007

The latest news they have for us is dated June 4.

Salik. And so the endgame begins...

I feel really sorry for the people in the Salik call centre. Given a job to do, and not the information or resources to do it. Took me 15 minutes listening to sanctimonious claptrap before a real live person picked up the call.

Haven't been able to find a Salik tag yet, so I called them to ask. "Selected Emarat and Epco stations". Yes, but which ones? All that I have visited so far have been cleaned out. And I imagine tomorrow is going to be worse. "Go to Emirates Bank or Dubai Islamic Bank instead"

So, Emirates Bank then? Tomorrow is Friday... ..will the RTA arrange for them to open specially? Yeah, right.

So, what happens if I can't get a tag before Sunday? "You won't be fined for two days, but you must get a tag"

OK, but where? "Selected Emarat or Eppco stations" - been there, done that, all gone.

So can you tell me which stations still have tags? "No, I don't have any information about that"

And if I can't find one? "You will be fined"

How can I appeal? "I don't have any information about that"

And if I have to drive on Shk Zayed road "you must have a tag"

So please tell me where there will be tags available tomorrow "I don't have any information about that"

I really do feel sorry for N*****a, she was only doing her job. But I still don't have a tag. I wonder how many others there are in the same boat?

Guess we'll find out on Sunday...

2 new salik gates by September

"Dubai: New Salik toll gates will be installed at Al Maktoum Bridge and between the first and second interchange on Shaikh Zayed Road, Dubai Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) announced on Tuesday.

“The two new toll gates will be activated from September 9 as part of the second phase of Salik system,” said Mattar Al Tayer, Chairman of the Board and Executive Director of the RTA."

more here

So you really care about labourers, do you?

Some popular bloggers claim they care about the UAE when their posts are all really propaganda = in simple words: complaints, complaints and more propaganda.

And when the time comes that they have to pay up in terms of Salik, suddenly their complaints on the subject forget to mention the so-called "poor treatment of labourers".

When the time comes for cash to exit their own pockets, they only think of themselves. What hypocrisy.

Salik, and any other complaints you may have, o complainers, also happens to affect, amongst yourselves, the poor little labourers whose "lack of rights" you so dearly "speak out" against.

And not one of these o dear complainers' posts against Salik include the "disadvantage" of the even longer distance labourers have in getting to their own dear old homes.

What a selfish, two-faced blogging-world we live in.