The Salik Toll System was recently instituted to ease congestion on Sheik Zayed Road (SZR)—a major thoroughfare and my main route to work. According to government sources, the fact it is expected to raise in excess of 600,000 AED per year has nothing to do with the implementation.
At workplaces throughout Dubai, discussions about the toll system started as a distant rumble months ago and grew to a howling dim as the last normal working day before implementation passed without any news from many companies whose employees travel the road. For westerners, it might not seem to be a big deal, but here, where many people work for low wages and have transportation and housing provided as part of their compensation, it is a big deal. The tolls for many amount to 5% or more of pay.
There are no toll booths on the road to pay with cash. Each car has to have a transponder. Drivers going through without the transponder--or without adequate toll credits loaded on the transponder--are fined 100 AED for the first infraction and fines increase in stages for successive infractions.
When I tried to buy one of the toll devices I found out that I needed the vehicle registration and mine had expired in May. I requested a copy of the new registration and then found out that only the car owner (the leasing company in this case) can buy the transponder tag.
My company’s policy on the tolls is that employees have to pay their own tolls. However, since the leasing company responsible for getting the transponders was late, the company stated they would cover any fines that leased car drivers got. My immediate plan was to cruise SZR amassing fines. ;~) However, on the day the road opened, the leasing company was at the office dispensing tags. :~(
In spite of concerns about the impact on traffic, on the day the Salik Toll system started, SZR was lovely while all the escape routes were hellish. I happened to be coming home from the airport in a taxi that day and quite enjoyed the jam-free ride. My taxi had a tag and when I got to my apartment they added 8 AED in extras to cover the two toll gates we passed which I put on my expense account--no muss, no fuss. A good deal for the taxi company as drivers are only supposed to have to pay a max of 26 AED per day no matter how many times you pass. That may not apply to taxis though.
(note the crashed in guard rail)
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