Motorists in Dubai have noticed the installation of new Salik toll gates, which have been spotted on Al Khail Road and Sheikh Zayed Road. These two new gates will bring the total number of Salik toll gates in Dubai from eight to ten. The new gates are located at Business Bay Crossing on Al Khail Road and Al Safa South on Sheikh Zayed Road between Al Meydan Street and Umm Al Sheif Street.

Scheduled Operational Date

According to Salik Company PJSC, Dubai's exclusive toll gate operator, the new toll gates are set to be operational by the end of November this year. This information was revealed in their half-year financial report released on Tuesday. A photo shared with Khaleej Times on the same day shows the familiar silver board containing Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology, which detects vehicles and scans the Salik sticker tag, taken on Al Khail Road before the Business Bay bridge while heading towards Sharjah from Dubai.

Purpose of the New Salik Gates

The new Salik gates were initially announced earlier this year with the aim of optimizing traffic flow and reducing congestion on key routes within Dubai. The Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) stated in January that the locations for these new gates were chosen based on extensive traffic movement studies. The goal is to manage traffic distribution and reduce congestion by rerouting some vehicles to alternative routes with greater capacity, ensuring smoother and more efficient travel for all motorists in Dubai.

Impact on Traffic

The RTA has emphasized that the introduction of these new Salik gates will significantly reduce traffic on key Dubai routes, by up to 42%. Specifically:

• Business Bay Crossing Salik:

  • Reroutes traffic from Jebel Ali to Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed and Emirates Roads
  • Reduces congestion on Al Khail Road by up to 15%
  • Decreases traffic on Al Rebat Street by up to 16%
  • Reduces traffic on Financial Centre Street by 5%
  • Cuts down total travel time on the congested segment of Al Khail Road between Al Rebat and Ras Al Khor Streets by 20,000 hours daily in both directions.

• Al Safa South Salik:

  • Reduces right-turning traffic from Sheikh Zayed Road to Al Meydan Street by 15%
  • Reduces traffic on Al Meydan and Al Safa Streets to Sheikh Zayed Road by about 42%
  • Decreases traffic on Sheikh Zayed Road between Financial Centre and Latifa Bint Hamdan Streets by 4%
  • Optimizes the use of First Al Khail Road and Al Asayel Streets by 4%.

How Salik Works

Currently, Dubai has eight operational Salik gates, including Al Mamzar North, Al Mamzar South, Al Garhoud Bridge, Al Maktoum Bridge, Airport Tunnel, Al Safa, Al Barsha, and Jebel Ali. Every time a vehicle passes through a Salik toll gate, the RFID technology scans the Salik sticker tag attached to the vehicle’s windscreen, and a toll fee of Dh4 is automatically deducted from the motorist’s prepaid toll account. This account can be topped up online or through recharge cards. Failure to maintain an adequate account balance or passing through Salik without a valid tag will result in penalties.

In 2023, about 593 million journeys passed through Salik’s toll gates. From January to June 2024, 238.5 million trips were recorded through the eight toll gates, generating a half-year revenue of Dh1.1 billion, marking a 5.6% increase from the same period last year.

Toll Gates in Abu Dhabi

The road toll system is also in place in Abu Dhabi, where the Darb toll system was introduced in January 2021. Similar to Dubai, motorists passing through any of the main bridges leading to the capital city—Al Maqtaa Bridge, Mussafah Bridge, Sheikh Zayed Bridge, and Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Bridge—are charged Dh4 per journey. However, Darb only charges during peak hours, which are from 7 am to 9 am and 5 pm to 7 pm, Monday to Saturday. No toll is charged during non-peak hours, and Darb tolls are free all day on Sundays and public holidays.

In contrast, Salik gates in Dubai operate 24/7 and are chargeable even during holidays, with the exception of the Al Maktoum gate, where passing is free on Sundays and from 10 pm to 6 am Monday to Saturday.