It is the size of a credit card and it sits behind the rear-view mirror of your car. This is the Salik card, the key to Dubai’s embryonic toll system, designed to deal with the fact that Dubai has become the most congested city in the Middle East.
The system started on July 1. It currently charges drivers Dh4 as they pass two points on the Sheikh Zayed highway that links the east and west of the emirate. You can charge your card online, by mobile phone, or at petrol stations and banks. If you do not, and you pass one of the two control points near either the Mall of the Emirates or the Garhood Bridge, you are liable for a Dh50 fine.
