ALKHOBAR: The toll tax on the King Fahd Causeway will rise from Jan. 1 next year, according to the authority running the bridge.

There would be an increase from SR20 to SR25 for small cars and from SR30 to SR35 for vehicles transporting passengers. There would be no change for trucks, Emad Al-Mohaiseen, spokesman of the causeway, was quoted as saying by an online publication on Wednesday.

Al-Mohaiseen said the authority has been bearing the operational and maintenance costs for the causeway since its inception in 1986, with no increase for small cars and those transporting passengers. It increased the tax on trucks from SR2 to SR5 a ton two years ago, he said.

He said the rebates for people with disabilities and students would remain at 50 percent. Those who use the causeway frequently can get a 15 percent rebate on the new price of SR25, he said.

Meanwhile, the government is installing four fixed Saher cameras on the Saudi side of the causeway to counter speeding on the bridge linking the Kingdom with Bahrain.

The cameras would be set up on the incoming and outgoing lanes, a distance of 12 km, to ensure drivers stick to the 100 km an hour speed limit. The locations of the cameras would be determined by a committee consisting of causeway and traffic officials.

The introduction of the Saher cameras follow conclusive evidence that the presence of these devices have reduced the speed at which motorists drive on the nation’s roads, resulting in the reduction of accidents and deaths.

When a violation is recorded the owner of the vehicle is sent an SMS message immediately. All vehicle owners must update their data to include who drives their vehicles.