Timeframe: Looking back on 16 years of Salik

The electronic road toll system began with a gate on Al Garhoud Bridge and another on Sheikh Zayed Road near Mall of the Emirates

Salik was introduced to reduce traffic congestion on Sheikh Zayed Road and encourage drivers to use alternative routes. Jaime Puebla / The National

Dubai's Salik road toll system turns 16 this month.

The electronic system was launched in Dubai by the Roads and Transport Authority on July 1, 2007. The aim was to reduce traffic congestion on Sheikh Zayed Road, prompting drivers who did not want to pay the Dh4 toll to use alternative routes, namely Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Road (311) and Emirates Road (611).

Salik, which translates to clear and moving, works through radio-frequency identification (RFID), which uses electromagnetic fields to identify cars that pass through any of the Salik gates. Motorists were required to purchase a Dh100 Salik tag, which was stuck on windshields. The tag includes Dh50 in credit that is added to an account when activated. If a tag was bought online, an additional charge of Dh20 was applied.

If motorists pass through the toll gate with insufficient balance in their accounts, they have a grace period of five working days to recharge. Failure to do so will result in fines of Dh50 a day. Those who do not have a tag and pass through a gate have 10 working days from the first trip to acquire a Salik tag. After this expires, a fine of Dh100 is imposed on the next trip, which keeps increasing with every time they pass.

When the system was first launched there were two gates: one on Al Garhoud Bridge and another on Sheikh Zayed Road near Mall of the Emirates.

Six more have since been added, including near Al Maktoum Bridge, Al Mamzar South, Al Mamzar North, Al Safa, Airport Tunnel and Jebel Ali. At first there was a Dh24 cap per day per car, meaning that once a car passed through six gates, subsequent trips were free. But that provision was lifted in July 2013.

There has been speculation whether new Salik gates would be added on key roads, particularly in September last year when Salik advertised its IPO on road signs.

In a statement to Wam news agency last year, Salik chairman Mattar Al Tayer of the Roads and Transport Authority said any decision to expand the road toll system or add further gates will depend on RTA's transport strategy.