Ivan’s Blog

As I have hinted in one of the previous posts, traffic in Dubai is one of the biggest issues giving the city dwellers much of their daily headaches. Not surprising, considering that the city itself is an amalgamate of 180+ different nations each bringing with them their own driving habits - for example what constitutes ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ side of the road to start with. In addition, the city has experienced unprecedented growth in the recent years putting a lot of pressure on the existing infrastructure, which is constantly being improved but just doesn’t seem to be keeping pace with the population growth. Lack of reliable mass transit and ongoing construction are the icing on the cake of constant traffic jams and long commute times.

In order to tackle the issue, local government has embarked on a number of projects that are geared towards providing alternatives for road transportation as well as making driving a less desirable and available option.   

Mass Transit

The work on the first phase of Dubai Metro has started in 2006 and the first phase is expected to be completed in 2009. This phase consists of two lines (one of which is crossing Dubai on its long East-West axis) running underground in the city centre and on elevated viaducts elsewhere. Not to disappoint, once finished it will be the longest fully automated rail system in the world.

In addition, the Road Transportation Authority (RTA) is constantly adding to their fleet of modern air-conditioned buses. As the local climate doesn’t make waiting for the bus a very pleasant experience (try 45C and 85% humidity!), the RTA is also building a network of air-conditioned bus stops to facilitate use of public transport.

 All of these measures are geared towards increasing the market share of public transport from the current 5% to 15% by 2020 (compared to Chicago at 5%, Sydney at 15% and Hong Kong at whopping 60%). 

Salik

Similar to Singapore and London, in 2007 the authorities have implemented an RFID based system of toll-gates called Salik (‘clear and moving’ in Arabic) charging motorists 4 Dhs (~1 USD) for every pass through (with a 24 Dhs daily maximum). In the first phase, the system has been set up on the Sheikh Zayed Road, the city’s most important (and congested) thoroughfare – a 7 lane highway turned a gigantic parking lot during the rush hours. While the second phase is already under consideration (more tolls!), the first results seem to indicate a mere redistribution of traffic from the Sheikh Zayed Road to the free alternative routes – not surprising considering the lack of real substitutes to the car transport. 

Regulations

With a record growth that could see the current population of 1.4M double to almost 3M by 2020, the government is trying to make driving less of an option to this huge number of newcomers. Recent changes in regulations make it increasingly difficult to convert or obtain a new local driving license which is a must have in order to buy and insure a car in Dubai.  With the exception of license and passport holders of the 36 (mainly Western and Gulf region) countries that can simply have their license converted for a small fee, the rest of the new residents are required to go through a lengthy and expensive process that could set them back for thousands of dollars and months (even years!) of time before obtaining this important document.

Unfortunately, as a proud holder of a Yugoslavian (sic) passport and a licensed driver (in two countries) of 13 years, I am about to join the ranks of patrons of local driving schools as soon as open slots (yes, that is an issue too) become available. Yet another cost in money and time to be paid for my roaming around the world. Wish me luck!