Citizens and residents through their personal accounts on the social networking site «Twitter» Department of Transport in Abu Dhabi, to reconsider the mechanism of implementation of the decision «traffic tariff» at the entrances and exits of the city of Abu Dhabi, proposing to provide an alternative route «free» to the gates areas, allowing owners to choose vehicles in case Not willing to pay fees.

According to the Department of Transport, the registration of vehicles in the traffic tariff system will be opened on the official website of the Integrated Transport Center tomorrow, while fees will be effective from 15 October.

In particular, social networking sites have witnessed widespread controversy among hundreds of Abu Dhabi residents about the feasibility of implementing a vehicle tariff system, as dozens of Twitter account holders agreed on the need to provide a “free route” for vehicles that would be an alternative to gateway areas.

"Before implementing the resolution, appropriate alternatives should be found to reduce traffic, such as trains, metro and buses, to ensure that workers enter the city with less cars," one account said.

Another account called for a re-amendment of the resolution to include the exemption of Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Khalifa bridges completely from fees, to encourage the movement of vehicles on them as alternative routes to the Musaffah and Al Maqtaa bridges.

This is supported by a third account, saying: «I think that the survival of one road without fees would be better, and I see the exemption of Sheikh Khalifa Bridge for a certain period, and if he sees a congestion in the future is applied fees».

Hasab confirmed that the morning congestion is concentrated on the Mussafah and Al Maqtaa bridges, so the application of tariffs on all bridges will not solve the problem of congestion.

The owner of one of the accounts, the exemption of the vehicles of the owners of the tariff fees, especially as they find it difficult to use buses or any of the means of mass transport.

In contrast, the Department of Transport in Abu Dhabi, stressed the difficulty of thinking to create alternative routes for cars for a number of reasons, the most important of which is to avoid congestion and large congestion in these routes, in addition to the main reason behind the implementation of the traffic tariff system, is to reduce the excessive use of private vehicles, and try Impose a culture of asylum for mass transport, especially during peak times.

The department said that the expansion of roads and streets is offset by an increase in cars, and therefore the expansion of any city will not be the solution to eliminate congestion and facilitate traffic.

The Department said that the decision to apply traffic tariffs at the entrances and exits of Abu Dhabi was preceded by several studies, and is based on the application of an integrated transport system that provides alternative solutions for vehicle owners, pointing out that these alternative solutions include the addition of 327 new buses in the city of Abu Dhabi, in conjunction with the implementation of the traffic tariff system This will increase the capacity of the bus transport network, increase the bus network lines within the island, to improve its efficiency and connect the island of Abu Dhabi with the rest of the regions, and increase the use of taxis, where there are currently about 6369 taxis occupy 45%, and is expected Increase the rate after the application of traffic tariffs, in order to provide adequate coverage to use.

According to the Department, the list of alternative solutions constituted the licensing of means of transport within the last mile, encouraging their use, including electric scooters, encouraging the service of queuing and mobility of employees, supporting companies and institutions in the processing and operation of their transport services from the queue and mobility sites of the Department, in addition to licensing means of transport. This service is expected to increase vehicle participation and reduce ownership, which will contribute to the DoT's goal of encouraging behavior change towards sustainable transport.

Fines

The Executive Regulation of the Traffic Tariff Law in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi stipulates that fines shall be imposed on the violators. The violation of traffic through the traffic tariff zones, without registering the vehicle in the system, after the expiry of the deadline, is AED 100 for the first day, AED 200 for the second day, and AED 400 for the day. The third and the following, with a maximum of AED 10,000.

For the passage through the traffic tariff zones without the balance in the user account, for vehicles registered outside the Emirate, and after the expiry of the deadline to recharge the balance, the amount of the violation is 50 dirhams per day.

Exceptions

The Department of Transport in Abu Dhabi has excluded nine types of vehicles from paying the four traffic gates, including ambulances, armed forces and civil defense, which bear the numbers and logo of public buses, motorcycles in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi and other emirates, taxis licensed in the emirate, and school buses authorized from Department, passenger buses (limited to 26 passengers and above), vehicles bearing the emblem and number of Abu Dhabi Police and Ministry of Interior, electric vehicles for two years (from the date of activation of the system in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi and the rest of the UAE); Lump.