Toll gates are a familiar sight for Dubai residents, with eight installed on busy roads in the emirate in an effort to reduce congestion.
Here is everything you need to know about how the Salik toll system works and where you can expect to see new gates.
Where are toll gates found in Dubai?
The Salik electronic system was introduced in 2007 to ease congestion on Sheikh Zayed Road.
Tags fixed to windscreens can be purchased online or at service stations. These can be topped up online or through recharge cards.
Motorists are charged Dh4 ($1.09) to pass through each gate and the amount is deducted automatically from the card. The toll gates are at the following locations:
- Al Barsha
- Al Garhoud
- Al Maktoum
- Al Mamzar South
- Al Mamzar North
- Al Safa
- Airport Tunnel
- Jebel Ali
Why were tolls introduced in Dubai?
The Roads and Transport Authority in Dubai said the move was to ease traffic on the very busy Sheikh Zayed Road and raise state revenue.
When a toll gate was introduced in Jebel Ali, transport officials said it could reduce traffic by about 25 per cent. The RTA also wants more vehicles funnelled out to Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Road (311) and Emirates Road (611).
How much does a Salik tag cost?
Motorists must pay Dh100 for a tag, but this includes Dh50 in credit that is added to an account when activated. If you buy it online, an additional charge of Dh20 applies.
What are the fines for passing through a Salik gate without credit?
If you pass through the toll gate with insufficient balance in your account, you have a grace period of five working days to recharge. Failure to do so will result in fines of Dh50 a day.
What happens if you don’t have a tag and drive through a toll gate?
Motorists have a grace period of 10 working days from the first trip to install a Salik tag. After this expires, a fine of Dh100 is imposed on the next trip, which keeps increasing with every time you pass.
More information on the penalties can be found on the RTA website.
Will there be new gates?
There had been speculation on social media in recent days over potential plans to add further gates along key arteries such as the E311 after people noticed the IPO being advertised on road signs.
According to news agency Wam, Salik chairman Mattar Al Tayer of the Roads and Transport Authority said that any decision to expand the road toll system or add further gates will depend on the outcomes of the transport strategy being constantly revised by the RTA.
New toll gates can also be added subject to the council’s approval, once the Roads and Transport Authority conducts a “comprehensive traffic study in co-ordination with Salik”, Ibrahim Al Haddad, Salik's chief executive, told The National in an interview on Tuesday.
“Today we have an opportunity to add a gate because of traffic needs and we have provided alternatives … the plan from an engineering standpoint is ready,” Mr Al Haddad said.
“The timing to add a new gate will be subject to final approval.”
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The specs
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Engine 4.4-litre twin-turbo V8
Power 625hp at 6,000rpm
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Gearbox Eight-speed paddleshift auto
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Company name: Suraasa
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Day 1, Abu Dhabi Test: At a glance
Moment of the day Dimuth Karunaratne had batted with plenty of pluck, and no little skill, in getting to within seven runs of a first-day century. Then, while he ran what he thought was a comfortable single to mid-on, his batting partner Dinesh Chandimal opted to stay at home. The opener was run out by the length of the pitch.
Stat of the day – 1 One six was hit on Day 1. The boundary was only breached 18 times in total over the course of the 90 overs. When it did arrive, the lone six was a thing of beauty, as Niroshan Dickwella effortlessly clipped Mohammed Amir over the square-leg boundary.
The verdict Three wickets down at lunch, on a featherbed wicket having won the toss, and Sri Lanka’s fragile confidence must have been waning. Then Karunaratne and Chandimal's alliance of precisely 100 gave them a foothold in the match. Dickwella’s free-spirited strokeplay meant the Sri Lankans were handily placed at 227-4 at the close.
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France has organised a delegation of leading businesses to travel to Syria. The group was led by French shipping giant CMA CGM, which struck a 30-year contract in May with the Syrian government to develop and run Latakia port. Also present were water and waste management company Suez, defence multinational Thales, and Ellipse Group, which is currently looking into rehabilitating Syrian hospitals.
Specs
Engine: Electric motor generating 54.2kWh (Cooper SE and Aceman SE), 64.6kW (Countryman All4 SE)
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if you go
The flights
Etihad, Emirates and Singapore Airlines fly direct from the UAE to Singapore from Dh2,265 return including taxes. The flight takes about 7 hours.
The hotel
Rooms at the M Social Singapore cost from SG $179 (Dh488) per night including taxes.
The tour
Makan Makan Walking group tours costs from SG $90 (Dh245) per person for about three hours. Tailor-made tours can be arranged. For details go to www.woknstroll.com.sg
Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
