King of the Roads

If nothing else, at least now Dubaians realize the importance of Sheikh Zayed Road. Close the road, the city stops.

Business may grumble that Monday's public holiday – the fifth consecutive working week interrupted by a holiday – was called late, but it was unavoidable. For security reasons, the visit of George Bush to Dubai is not something that can be flagged in advance. If the authorities then choose to close down the city's main artery for 10 hours, along with closures on feeder roads, then there is little option but to tell people to take the day off and stay home.

It is a pity Bush never got to see the real city, warts and all. The presidential bubble must think the world is full of clear roads, and smells of fresh paint.

Read More...

Stalled

Salik, Dubai's first attempt at fixing its commuter traffic problem started today, and everyone in the emirate has an opinion on it. So what's Kipp's view?

First up, Day One cannot have been good for business productivity. There will have been a good number of people who bought the Salik card and enjoyed a clear run along the tolled Sheikh Zayed Road, perhaps most of them shaved a little time of their commute. For the majority, however, journey times increased dramatically; a straw poll in the Kipp office suggests commuting times tripled, many took over two hours on journeys that last week took 30 minutes. Read More...