Roads & Transport AuthorityRoads & Transport Authority - Mohammed Al Munji: The Roads & Transport Authority (RTA)Roads & Transport Authority (RTA) starts today, Tuesday 9 September 2008, operating Phase II of the Toll Gates System (Salik) on Al Safa & Al Maktoum Bridge.

It was confirmed by Salah Al Marzouqi, Director of RTARTA Intelligent Traffic Systems Department that the Toll Gate at Al Maktoum Bridge will be free of charge during the period of closing the Floating Bridge i.e. from 10 pm to 6 am. "The toll gate charge will be deducted only one time when crossing Al Barsha Toll Gate (near mall of the Emirates) and Al Safa Toll Gate in both directions in one trip, defined as one hour" he said.

Al Marzouqi elaborated on the concept of (one trip)' and further added: "One trip means when a vehicle passes under Al Safa Toll Gate, the toll charge will be deducted once even if the vehicle passes under Al Barsha Toll Gate and vice versa, during a specific period of time fixed as one hour. The Toll Gate system (Salik) is fitted with traffic technological control systems to appreciate traffic bottlenecks triggered by traffic accidents, noting that the average time taken for crossing under the two gates is 15 to 20 minutes.

"RTARTA has provided five alternative routes and huge numbers of deluxe public buses. These include alternative roads such as the 13-lanes Business Bay Crossing, and the Floating Bridge linking the terminal point of Al Ittihad Road near City Center with Al Riyadh Road in Bur Dubai. In addition to that there is Emirates Road; where RTARTA has completed widening of the road from 3 to 6 lanes in each direction up to the Arabian Ranches Interchange. Options also include Dubai Bypass Road, consisting of six lanes in each direction linking the emirate of Dubai with the emirates of Abu Dhabi & Sharjah, without having to access downtown area.

"In addition to that RTARTA also provided other options to road users that include introduction of state-of-the-art public buses, and launched 'Lift Me' service; which is being introduced to RTARTA employees in the initial phase. The service provides deluxe vehicles fitted with internet service and employee attendance system. RTARTA has recently signed eight strategic agreements with eight companies and establishments operating in the emirate of Dubai, where RTARTA Public Transport Agency (Mobility Management Programmes Section) will facilitate deployment of buses by those entities to ease transportation of their employees from and to their work places. RTARTA also launched 'Share with Me' service to encourage shared transport among motorists working in neighbouring areas to transit on one vehicle.

"RTARTA has also kept in place an integrated package of interactive services to subscribers of Toll Gate System (Salik) that include the website www.salik.ae, which was met with huge response due to the highly flexible service provided by the website. It enables subscribers to top-up their accounts using several options such as credit cards, e-dirham or direct deduction from a bank account, thanks to the coordination with Dubai e-Government. Users may also use the conventional way of topping their accounts through visiting a number of petrol stations such as Emarat, EPCO, ENOC & ADNOC, or the branches of Dubai Islamic Bank or Emirates Bank.

"Services also include the IVR system where subscribers may check their account balance and details of toll gate crossing and request account details through SMS. This could be completed by calling Salik dedicated Call Center on 800-72545, and following up the voice guidance accordingly. RTARTA will shortly unveil new, prompt and easy to use services to top up the accounts of the system subscribers" added Al Marzouqi in a final remark.

-Ends-

© Press Release 2008

 

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