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Dubai went live on the first of July with SALIK, the electronic toll collection system to improve the traffic flow and reduce congestion. Each time a car passes through the tolling point, AED 4 is deducted from the prepaid toll account through communication with the sticker tag on the car's windshield.
According to my opinion, the toll system is introduced too early, as there are no other or not enough alternative means of transportation, such as metros, trams, public busses. Because of the lack of these alternative services, the traffic problem will only be diverted to other roads such as Emirates Road, as many people will try to avoid the tolling points. That means that the traffic flow and congestion will not be improved, as there are also not enough alternative routes. I also think that the rate of 4 dirham is very high, and not fair to taxi companies, lower income groups or Sharjah/Bur Dubai/Deira residents commuting to work in the free zone areas.
I am wondering whether Dubai residents and business people are happy with this new system. We are going to launch a poll soon in order to measure the satisfaction among the residents. We will keep you posted, but in the meantime we invite you to participate in the debate "Do you believe that road tolls improve the traffic flow and reduce congestion?".
Regards,
Tamara Deprez
Research Director
tamara@maktoob-research.com |
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The United States presidential election of 2008 is scheduled to be held on November 4, 2008. We asked our newsletter readers who should be the next President of the US. The results are slightly different from the Presidential Poll that Maktoob Research conducted at the end of May 2007 among 3,669 respondents in Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
Our readers prefer to see Hillary Clinton as next President of the US (29%). Barack Obama comes in as second choice (12%), followed by Rudy Giuliani, Former NYC Mayor, with only 6%. Roughly a third states "I do not care" (35%)... Read more here
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By Ahmad Al-Assad
Read the first paragraph for genuine ideas that will generate more revenues for your business. I have a lot of exciting ideas for different businesses, whether it was fast food, telecoms or any other business! Want to hear some? Here you go: Fast-food chains should have a playing area for kids. That way, children will use their "nagging powers" to drag the rest of the family members to the same restaurant, over and over again. What? Don't you like that idea? You say it's old? What about this idea: have kids' meals as part of your menu with a toy in every meal. What? Old as well? Mmm, what about FREE delivery to homes?... Read more here
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... that in total a quarter (25%) of UAE, Egyptian, Jordanian and Saudi residents have an MP3 Player? The percentage of MP3 owners is significantly higher in the UAE (36%) than in Egypt, Jordan and Saudi. Please note that it includes mobiles that play MP3 as well. Source: Maktoob Research survey (n=3669 respondents)
... that a bit more than half of the UAE population does not drink sparkling water (52%)? Source: Maktoob Research survey (n=383 respondents)
... that more than half of the Arab population does not know the meaning of ADSL (53%)?
Source: Maktoob.com poll |
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Take a look at the media coverage we have had in the past few months!
Our Presidential Poll surveyed 3,669 respondents from Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates between May 25-30, 2007 and asked who they would like to see as President of the United States and why. The Poll has been featured on many international websites, such as Forbes.com, Arabisto.com, Yahoo News.
Also our Mobile Usage Study conducted among the same group of respondents has been featured in regional publications, such as Gulf News, Al Ittihad, Cellular News.com, Al Ghad. |
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Do you believe that road tolls improve the traffic flow and reduce congestion?
Give us your opinion about the above topic , your viewpoint might feature in our next newsletter! We look forward to hearing from you. JOIN the debate! |
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