Future of Tolling Infrastructure in the Middle East Region

Zeina Nazer, MSc P.E. MBA Secretary General

ITS Arab

IBTTA 79th Annual Meeting 13 September 2011 Berlin, Germany Agenda

• The Middle East Context

• Current and future tolling infrastructures in the region

• Salik

• Congestion Charging

• BOT Toll road in Syria

• Qatar- Bahrain causeway

• Toll systems in Tunisia

• Toll systems in Turkey

• Conclusions and Recommendations

The Middle East Context

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

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

Current Toll Roads in the Middle East

• 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

Future 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)

Dubai Salik Free Flow System

• 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 (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.

Dubai Salik Free Flow System

Key objectives of Salik toll system are to:

• Signal the cost of road usage • encourage the use of public transport and funding its upgrade;  Phase I opened on 09/09/09  recently modernised buses (improved schedule, bus stops and new vehicles)  water transport across • 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 lacks Public Acceptability

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

“ 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

Abu Dhabi Vision 2030 • 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

(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 Linking Lebanon to Iraq and Turkey to Jordan • Customer Syrian Ministry of Transport • Projects Axes 1 - Tartous-to-Al-Tanaf-Iraqi Borders: An approximate length of 370km

- Initial development of corridor alignment Axes 2 - Syrian- Turkish Borders-to-Syrian-Jordanian Borders: alternatives for each axes An approximate length of 500km. - 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

Qatar–Bahrain Causeway (The Friendship Bridge)

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. • 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. Source: http://www.itbhu.org

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

- Introduction of the automatic payment machine,

- Cash and automatic payment on the same machine, - All vehicles classes are supported (vehicles pre-classification),

- Standardization of the toll payment,

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

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

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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