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Revealed: How many vehicles cross Dubai's Salik toll gates daily

Starting September 13, the road toll operator will sell 1.5 billion shares or a 20 per cent stake in the company

Motorists in the UAE are increasingly using Dubai’s toll gate Salik as it not only saves time but also fuel costs.

A total of 481 million road trips were recorded last year, averaging 1.317 million vehicle trips per day across eight Salik toll gates that dot the emirate’s busiest corridors, mainly Sheikh Zayed Road, according to the road toll operator prospectus released on Monday.

In the first half of 2022, the number of vehicles using toll gates reached 267 million, which amounts to 1.475 million vehicle trips per day. If the number of vehicle trips continues at this average, they will reach 538.37 million this whole year, which is an increase of nearly 12 per cent from last year.

Starting September 13, the road toll operator will sell 1.5 billion shares or a 20 per cent stake in the company and list on the Dubai Financial Market (DFM) later this month as part of the Dubai government’s aim to increase local stock market capitalization to Dh3 trillion.

In June, Salik was spun off into a public joint stock company and was given legal, financial and administrative autonomy to carry out its activities and achieve its objectives.

Salik enjoys a 92 per cent customer satisfaction rate, thanks to its brand strategy and forward-thinking culture.

Dubai’s road toll system is a critical asset for the Emirate, in a City where the car is the preferred mobility mode, with more than 60 per cent of commuters using private cars, thereby not competing but complementing other public transport infrastructure.

Currently, each time a vehicle passes through a Salik toll point, a fee of Dh4 is automatically deducted from a prepaid account. Insurance firm Budget Direct said last year that roads toll in the UAE are cheaper than in most developed countries such as Switzerland, Austria, Denmark, China, Sweden, USA, Canada, Netherlands, Australia, Germany, the UK and others.

According to Salik Company, a total of 367 million road revenue-generating trips were recorded last year and the numbers grew to 205 million in the first half of this year. Revenue-generating trips account for the majority of the company’s revenues.

By paying a mere Dh4 for the toll gates, motorists can save quite a lot of time and fuel, especially during peak hours. The retail fuel prices in UAE reached an all-time high in June-July, crossing the Dh4 per litre mark for the first time in the country. This, too, prompted many motorists to use Salik gates to save on fuel costs.

“Running several live algorithms based on a typical trip between Dubai Media City and Downtown / Dubai International Airport, two of Dubai’s most populated business centres, showed that the toll roads help save on average 44 per cent of journey time compared to toll-free roads,” Salik said in the prospects ahead of the launch of its initial public offering (IPO).

The time-saving figure is based on data from Google Maps for a trip from Dubai Media City to Downtown Dubai at 4:51pm on May 2, 2022, and for a trip from Dubai Media City to Dubai International Airport at 4:58pm on the same date.

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