New toll system to curb Dubai traffic :: Gulf News

Read the whole thing.

The nightmare is that the cure may be worse than the disease at least initially. It takes time to collect tolls, and not everyone will have transponders.

Charging for road use when there is congestion is a classic example taught in basic economics courses. What's neglected in those stories is the costs of collecting the toll, particularly the time cost. There has of course been a huge drop in these costs of collection due to the use of transponder technology, and with that an increasing use of tolls to deal with congestion problems.

This accompanying story in Gulf News is the nightmare scenario. Extract:

Dubai may set up road tolls on some internal roads that are congested, including a manual toll on Al Muraqqabat Road, sources said.

Other streets under consideration include Bank Street, Baniyas Street and Al Maktoum Street.

The plans form part of a proposal by the Dubai Road and Transport Authority to install a manual and electronic toll system in and around Dubai with specific focus on entry from Sharjah and Abu Dhabi, sources told Gulf News.

Time of day rates? Rates should be lower at times when congestion is less. I do not see a mention of time of day rates in these reports.