Zeina Nazer, MSc P.E. MBA

Secretary General

ITS Arab

IBTTA 79th Annual Meeting

13 September 2011

Berlin, Germany

Future of Tolling Infrastructure in the Middle East Region

• The Middle East Context

• Current and future tolling infrastructures in the region

• Dubai Salik

• Abu Dhabi Congestion Charging

• BOT Toll road in Syria

• Qatar- Bahrain causeway

• Toll systems in Tunisia

• Toll systems in Turkey

• Conclusions and Recommendations

Agenda

• The Middle East has some of the highest population growth rates in the world,

with the UAE at the very top of that table.

• Based on the World Bank figures, the population in MENA has grown from

127 million in 1976 to 450 million just 40 years later. It is set to double again by

2050.

• There are over 22 separate economies in Middle East ranging from resource

rich states in the Gulf to populous but resource poor states in Africa

• The population explosion, concentration in cities, and generally undeveloped

public transport systems, mean that the road systems in most of the major

GCC cities have become heavily overloaded. This has an impact on economic

efficiency. Governments in the region recognise this and are developing plans

to tackle these challenges.

The Middle East Context

Tolling in the Middle East So Far...

Three models

Manual Toll Plaza:

Egypt

King Fahd Causeway (Saudi Arabia – Bahrain)

Tunisia

Morocco

Mixed: Open Road/ Automatic Card Payment/ Manual:

Turkey OGS/ KGS/ Manual

Qatar Bahrain Causeway

Open Road – Multi-lane Free Flow (MLFF)

Dubai Salik

• Dubai RTA Salik – MLFF

• Egypt – Cairo/Alexandria Toll Road (upgrade from Manual to ETC)

• King Fahd Causeway linking Saudi Arabia to Bahrain (upgrade from

Manual to ETC)

• Tunisia Highways (more toll system on the South Highway tendered)

• Turkey Toll Road – mixed manual/ ETC/ MLFF

Current Toll Roads in the Middle East

• Abu Dhabi Congestion Charging (Feasibility Study)

• Qatar – Bahrain Causeway (40km) (design phase ETC)

• Yemen – Djibouti Causeway (Feasibility Study)

• BOT Toll Road in Syria (linking Lebanon to Iraq and Turkey to

Jordan) (Feasibility Study)

• Kuwait 4th and 8th Ring Roads (currently being upgraded)

• Maghrebine Highway connecting Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia

• Turkish Toll Roads (Additional Toll Roads planned)

Future Road Pricing in the Middle East

• Increased demand on highways and road

network.

• Government constantly build larger roads,

widening some to as many as 16 lanes.

• Part funded by tolls: Dubai's Roads &

Transport Authority (RTA) introduced the

Salik electronic toll collection scheme in

July 2007.

• ETC has propelled Dubai towards regional

leadership in the use of Road User

Charging (RUC) to enable high-efficiency

charging in the urban environment

• Potentially, a best-in-class charging

scheme when the system reaches full

operational capability.

Dubai Salik Free Flow System

Dubai Salik Free Flow System

• Dubai Salik (MLFF) 4 toll gates opened in July

2007 with 4 additional gates opened in September 2008. More gates to be open soon.

• Congestion Charging plans currently on hold.

Key objectives of Salik toll system are to:

• Signal the cost of road usage • encourage the use of public transport and funding its upgrade;

Dubai Metro Phase I opened on 09/09/09 recently modernised buses (improved schedule, bus stops and new vehicles) Abra water transport across Dubai Creek

• Increase adoption of carpooling, • Increase operational efficiency of Sheikh Zayed road • Reduce CO2 emissions and noise by reducing stop-start traffic.

“...Implementing RUC is perhaps the only sustainable approach to demand management

and an effective measure to encourage the adoption of other travel modes from the

addictive convenience of private motoring”.

Dubai Salik Free Flow System

A road user charging scheme needs:

> Research and studies to identify a feasible business case, including clear social,

environmental and economic benefits.

> Public discussion in the media etc. to raise awareness of congestion problems and

road pricing as a possible solution.

> Legislation to enable charging and enforcement.

> Complementary measures including: improved traffic management, public transport,

car sharing, flexible working hours, etc.

> Pilots to make solution more tangible to road users and to reduce procurement risk.

> AND… a critical mass of stakeholder buy-in

Dubai Salik lacks Public Acceptability

“ when Charging for an existing road government authorities should help

road user recognize and measure the benefits of paying a charge.

Abu Dhabi

• Projects (Ongoing) - Develop tolling / cost recovery strategy - Develop and implement Abu Dhabi -

Dubai Road (50Km) - Identify priority measures to reduce

congestion, develop and implement Congestion Management Plan

- Develop PPP guidelines and legal framework for PPP

- Congestion Charging Feasibility in city of Abu Dhabi already completed

• Abu Dhabi Strategic Plan 2030 will provide an integrated road and

transportation system that will facilitate people and goods movement

while improving safety levels.

• The plan will address the current congestion problems, accommodating

future needs by increasing the share of public transportation, and

decreasing the over-dependence on private vehicles including building

MASDAR vehicle free city.

• Abu Dhabi higher quality transit (paid for by public funds) and discounts

for local residents – these serve to improve public acceptability for RUC

planned for the future.

Abu Dhabi Vision 2030

Abu Dhabi

Abu Dhabi Vision 2030

(Extract from Vision 2030 Exec Summary: Transportation (p15-

16))

• Abu Dhabi Strategic Plan 2030 will provide an integrated road and

transportation system that will facilitate people and goods movement

while improving safety.

• The plan will address the current congestion problems,

accommodating future needs by increasing the share of public

transportation, and decreasing the over-dependence on private

vehicles.

• Abu Dhabi higher quality transit (paid for by public funds) and

discounts for local residents – these serve to improve public

acceptability for Road User Charging planned for the future.

Cairo- Alexandria Toll Road in Egypt

Source: Investment Roads Department – GARBLT, Egypt

Cairo – Alexandria Toll Road, Egypt

Ministry of Transport and

Communications –

General Authority for Roads, Bridges

and Land Transport

Projects

1. Cairo to Alexandria toll road in

Egypt, currently based on manual cash

collection with plans to upgrade to

automatic toll system. GARBLT are

considering MLFF.

2. Cairo Ring Road (not constructed

yet)

BOT Toll Road in Syria

Axes 1 - Tartous-to-Al-Tanaf-Iraqi Borders: An approximate length of 370km Axes 2 - Syrian- Turkish Borders-to-Syrian-Jordanian Borders: An approximate length of 500km.

Linking Lebanon to Iraq and Turkey to Jordan

• Customer Syrian Ministry of Transport • Projects

- Initial development of corridor alignment

alternatives for each axes

- Development & Calibration of sketch

planning travel demand model (VISUM)

- Conducting studies on tariff collection

technologies to determine which is most

suitable for implementation in Syria

Source: http://www.itbhu.org

• A causeway linking Qatar and Bahrain – a

causeway linking Bahrain and Qatar. Currently on

hold, the construction will start in 2011 for

completion in 2015, at the cost of approximately $5

billion

• The link will cut the road journey time from five

hours to 30 minutes

• The causeway will be of significant economic benefit

to both states

• It would be the world’s longest, at 40 km, running

from Ras Ashairij in Qatar to Askar in Bahrain.

GCC members took necessary measures to support, finance, and form joint

projects, both private and public, including the adoption of integrated economic

policies for transport infrastructure projects.

Qatar–Bahrain Causeway (The Friendship Bridge)

Yemen – Djibouti Causeway (Bridge of the Horns)

Yemen and Djibouti Ministries of Transport • Project:

- $25bn causeway between Africa and the Arabian peninsula crossing

the Red Sea at 29km wide1

- opening date is expected in 2020

- It is expected that about 100,000 cars and 50,000 rail passengers will

cross the bridge daily

Algeria & Morocco - Algeria $11.2 billion ''East - West'' highway (1200 Km) is considered the largest

public works project in the world. The project is a six-lane toll highway. It is being

developed along Algeria's borders with Morocco and Tunisia. It will connect

Algiers, Constantine, Oran, Annaba, Tlemcen and Setif. The development will

have 12 tunnels, 70 viaducts and 60 interchanges.

- Morocco has an extensive system of toll roads, recently built from Casablanca

connect all of Morocco major cities such as Marrakech, Rabat, and Tangier. ADM

runs the network

on a pay-per-use basis, with toll stations placed

along its length. ADM have plans to upgrade their current manual toll system.

-''Maghrebine highway'' connecting Morocco,

Algeria and Tunisia.

- Islamic Countries to Invest over the next 10

years $290 billion in Infrastructure projects

including toll-roads projects in Morocco and Malaysia financed by Islamic

Development Bank and the World Bank.

Toll system in Tunisia, Overview

Tunisia Highways

Projects

- Tunisia Highways are planning to grow their network from

currently 380 Km to 600Km

- Involved in the ''Maghrebine highway'' connecting Morocco,

Algeria and Tunisia.

- A1 Tunis-Sousse Motorway (upgrade)

- A4 Tunis-Bizerte Motorway

- A3 Motorway New toll system

- Highway of the South, working on the design and studies

phase (internal R&D unit of Tunisia Highways).

A complex legal definition : Fee for service, Tax, price… lots of

jurisprudence on the issue - Only one highway operator : Tunisia Highways, - Toll used to cover the cost of infrastructure financing

(construction, maintenance, operation and actually environmental costs,

- Tunisian government has the decision in setting toll rates

Toll system in Tunisia, Overview

- Cash payment (manual), only by toll

operator in tollboths (No ACM),

- Automatic payment, in tollboths and

automatic card machine.

- Automatic combined (coin and smart

card).

Toll system in Tunisia, Challenges

- Cash and automatic payment on the same machine,

- All vehicles classes are supported (vehicles pre-classification),

- Introduction of the automatic payment machine,

- Reducing the congestion and the time delay in the toll plazas.

- Standardization of the toll payment,

Toll system in Turkey

OGS/ KGS/ Cash

Turkish Motorways and Bosphorus Bridges Income (Net) (2001-2010)

Turkish Motorways and Bosphorus Bridges Income (Net) (2011)

Turkish Motorways and Bosphorus Bridges

Tolling in the Middle East region should be about:

• “Functionality, NOT technology”

• “Person-centric NOT vehicle-centric”

• Emphasizing the role of education and public information

• Being clear and transparent as to what happens to revenue

• Expect opposition to any scheme but understand that experience

suggests it will reduce over time

• Emphasizing the role of tolling and charging as part of a complete,

rounded package of transport schemes

• Emphasizing the role of tolling and charging in offering “Smart Choices”

Conclusions and Recommendations

Conclusions and Recommendations

For the Middle East region to compete on a world stage in diversified

services and products, its success will depend on how well it can

package its roads investment opportunities as efficient operations

that allow people and goods to flow freely and sustainably.

This needs sufficient foresight to avoid the economic and

environmental consequences of congestion from which many

other countries now suffer.

Thank you

Zeina Nazer, MSc P.E. MBA Secretary General

ITS Arab

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