Wednesday, July 18, 2007

So Salik Can Stay...

Salik is the new road toll that was introduced at the start of July as has been the topic of numerous posts from the UAE blogger community. As well as being a popular topic of conversations in the pub or over dinner. I have resisted the urge to comment so far while I continue to patiently wait for the PIN to my Salik account to arrive via SMS to me.

However, something did make me smile about Salik. While listening to my favourite Dubai talk radio station - 103.8m Eye on Dubai, they have a little segway which goes something like this:

Question:
"Where are you suppose to put your Salik sticker on your bike?"
Answer:
"On your helmet"

While photographic evidence would suggest the contrary and a nice Salik sticker obscuring a good proportion of the windshield would appear to be the solution:




I trust should other Emirates choose to implement their own road toll systems that they all use the same sticker - otherwise the only view out of the windscreen we will have will be very small indeed.

EDIT: As if by magic this morning I received an SMS from Salik informing me my balance was below 30AED - this was excellent. A quick phone call to the call center had me furnished with a PIN. Now if only their online re-charge was working I would be in Salik bliss.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

I think the tag thing is not working out as well as advertised.

Bikes should be exempt in any case. Bikes do not contribute to road congestion significantly.

Oh, wait was the point to reduce traffic or increase income for the RTA?

Aaron said...

There are certainly a lot of teething problems with Salik!

Anonymous said...

"So Salik Can Stay..."
:-)

Best one yet.

Aaron said...

Mr Gomez - the title was inspired by a rather comedic Salik mp3 that is currently circulating via email in the UAE. I have sent you a copy for amusement.

i*maginate said...

Salik has created an even bigger bottleneck at the Barsha toll gates. I fail to understand how or why, when the bottleneck was even less before Salik.

I think people have more or less decided whether they want to make use of Salik or take alternative routes.

If this is what the current situation is, the time to get onto alternative routes, or even queue to pass the MOE gates is creating even more traffic and time spent on the road.

There was a time I had wished for bike tracks for leisure purposes. Now I think reaching the toll gate could be faster on a cycle!

roykmathew said...

when i go to petrol station to renew my salik account, they are asking pin number. how i will get pin number?

Aaron said...

Just give them a call -

800 Salik (72545)