Dubai, May 27, 2008: The Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) has announced the launch of the new phase in the Salik system by installing two new gates – one on Al Safa Park Bridge on Sheikh Zayed Road and the other on Al Maktoum Bridge. Both Salik toll gates will be activated from September 9, 2008. Passengers passing through Al Safa and the already operational Al Barsha gate will be charged a toll fee of AED4 only once if they pass the two gates in the same journey.

RTA said that there are five available alternative roads and a wide range of public transport services to support the new phase of Salik. The alternative roads include the Business Bay Crossing which includes 13 lanes and connects the airport tunnel with Sheikh Rashid and Al Khail roads. Al Shandagha Tunnel and Floating Bridge are other alternatives that link the end of Al Ittihad Road near Deira City Center with Al Riyadh Road in Bur Dubai.

Emirates Road is also an important alternative which has been expanded by the RTA from three lanes to six lanes in each direction, in addition to the Arabian Ranches intersection that will be finalized in August. One of the external alternative roads is the Dubai Bypass with 6 lanes in each direction and connecting Dubai with Abu Dhabi and Sharjah without having to pass through Dubai downtown. The construction work for expanding the Sharjah entrance with Dubai at Al Sajaa intersection up to the Al Rawia intersection on Dubai-Al Ain road will be finalized before activating the new phase of Salik system.

Construction on the road projects in Deira which will lead to the alternative routes will also be finalized within already set time schedule. In June 2008 RTA will finish phase one of the Al Nahda intersection - Beirut street project. The new project aims to develop a highway that connects the Al Quds intersection road with Beirut Street reaching up to the Al Nahda intersection with Beirut Street. The project is part of the development phase of the northern section of Dubai International Airport tunnel.

Traffic management on Al Nahda intersection with Beirut Road also includes diverting the intersection of Al Nahda Road with Beirut Road from controlled intersection using traffic lights to a layered intersection featuring separate levels. This will be executed by building an upper bridge on Al Nahda road in addition to constructing a tunnel on Beirut Road to improve the traffic performance on these two roads, and to provide a smooth flow on Beirut Road to the airport tunnel in both directions.

RTA has already finished the two lanes bridge in both directions which supports the traffic coming from Abu Hail and Salah Al Deen roads in the Sharjah direction. This project comes within the expansion project of Al Ittihad Road which will be completed by the end of this year.

Public Transport
RTA has provided another alternative in addition to the alternative roads that includes the introduction of new modernized busses. In the next three months, 112 modern buses will be introduced along with five additional lines to support them. A special bus lane on Khalid Bin Waleed, Al Mankhoul, Al Khaleej and Al Mina roads will be activated during the coming three months.

A fast bus lane will be also activated on Al Ittihad, Emirates Road and Sheikh Zayed Road to provide fast trips between Sharjah and Dubai, and Jebel Ali and Tecom. RTA will launch "Awsilni" service for RTA’s employees which features luxurious buses with internet services and registration attendance system.

The RTA has recently signed eight strategic agreements with renowned institutions in Dubai for mobility management. Accordingly, RTA will facilitate transport procedures for companies interested in allocating buses for transporting employees to and from homes to the workplace.

Results of first phase
H.E Mattar Al Tayer, Chairman of the Board and Executive Director of RTA, said that the new phase of Salik project comes after a comprehensive study of the first phase and especially after the new launch of Al Garhoud Bridge. The study focused on the traffic jam at some major roads in Dubai and the alternatives that can resolve this issue. The study also highlighted the success of the first phase in reducing traffic at toll areas by 25 % and lowered the duration of the journey on Sheikh Zayed road by 50% and increased 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.

H.E Mattar Al Tayer pointed that during the time that Maktoum Bridge witnesses congestions during peak hours, the parallel roads and bridges like Business Bay Crossing, Garhoud Bridge and Emirates Road are occupied only to 70 % of its capacity.

He 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 Sheikh Zayed Road with toll charges to be deducted only once for each journey from Al Safa to Al Barsha gate and vise versa.

He said that the study emphasized the importance of installing new toll gates on Al Maktoum Bridge in order to reduce congestions on the bridge, and to decrease traffic gridlocks in Deira and to benefit from the new Garhoud bridge and Business Bay Crossing.

"A pioneering project, Salik has proven to be highly efficient since its inception as a unique solution to resolve traffic issues. It also supports RTA’s strategy to provide easy and safe transportation," Mattar Al Tayer said.

He added: "Salik is a part of integrated solutions that aim to reduce traffic. These solutions comprise roads projects and infrastructure; metro systems; public transport and marine transport apart from several traffic policies that encourage the use of public transport to reduce traffic jam in Dubai. Salik is an effective tool to reduce the usage of private cars".

H.E Mattar stressed on the success of the Salik services in gaining the trust of motorists and praised their understanding of the positive side of the system in easing traffic congestions and improving traffic infrastructure.

Salik has introduced innovative web services that has gained high acceptance due to its flexibility in offering Salik users with an easy way to add credit to their accounts. By logging on to the Salik website www.salik.ae users can add credit to their Salik accounts by using credit cards or e-dirham or by deducting directly from their bank accounts.

Motorists can also recharge their accounts by visiting Emarat, Eppco and Enoc petrol stations or the branches of Dubai Islamic Bank and Emirates International Bank. Salik users can also check their accounts through the new IVR service offered by the call center by calling 800- Salik (800-72545) and following the voice instructions.

H.E Al Tayer has urged motorists to cancel their accounts after selling their cars or if the tag is damaged by following the correct procedures. He also stressed on the importance of inserting the right account number and pin code while recharging Salik accounts in order to avoid any inconvenience.