70% don't want Salik to be expanded

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SALIK VIEWS: 70 percent of respondents are not happy about the toll gates system being expanded. (Getty Images)

The prospect of two more Salik tolls being introduced in Dubai in September has left many of the city's drivers fuming.

The Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) is due to launch a 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 - on September 9.

Passengers passing through Al Safa and the already operational Al Barsha gate will be charged a toll fee of four dirhams only once if they pass the two gates in the same journey.

But a majority of people who took part in an Arabian Business online poll over the weekend believe the controversial system has done nothing to ease traffic congestion in the emirate.

More than 70 percent of respondents said they were sworn enemies of the toll system, with 25 percent of those saying the existing gates should be dismantled and the RTA should rethink the whole scheme.

Another 46 percent said they thought traffic volumes on the city's roads were worse than ever since the launch of the Salik scheme. They also complained that the cost of the Salik was unreasonable.

But an RTA study carried out earlier this year claimed the first phase of Salik had been successful in reducing traffic at toll areas by 25 percent.

The research also claimed journey times on Sheikh Zayed road had reduced by 50 percent and the average speed had increased from 40 to 80km/hour.

The study findings was supported by 18 percent of respondents to the Arabian Business poll who said that they had noticed that certain parts of main roads were clearer than they used to be pre-Salik.

Another 11 percent said that although they didn't like having to pay, Salik had made a big improvement on the roads in Dubai.
10.5%

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