Dubai: A number of parents and drivers reported that they face severe slowdowns and daily traffic jams on the streets surrounding some educational facilities, especially during the afternoon when students are returning home. They pointed out that the journey time can sometimes reach about 60 minutes. Two members of the Federal National Council (FNC) also called for studying practical solutions to shorten the time of school bus journeys to and from schools, which would reduce the daily commuting hours for students, limit the fatigue resulting from long journeys, and enhance their comfort, safety, and readiness for the school day. They suggested allocating special lanes for school buses during peak times and considering the type of buses used and their suitability for different age groups.Traffic expert Dr. Jamal Al-Amri said that there are some individual behaviours that turn the road into a traffic jam during the students’ return from school, and that the fact that some parents stand waiting for their children in undesignated places poses a direct danger to the safety of children as they cross between vehicles.Large crowds block entrancesIn detail, parents said that the return period witnesses large congestion in the number of vehicles belonging to students’ families, compared to the morning period. They pointed out that the problem lies in the drivers having to wait for long periods inside their vehicles in anticipation of the children leaving, and accompanying disorganised behaviour, such as random and double parking that impedes the normal flow of traffic.Abu Muhammad, a parent, said: “The congestion is much worse when students are leaving school compared to the morning, because we have to stand and wait for a longer period of time until our children leave the school building.” He added: “Haphazard and double-parking by some people during the waiting period is the main reason for the street lanes being blocked and everyone being late.” Amira Saad, an employee, said: “Cars waiting outside the gates occupy most of the available parking spaces, and many are forced to park on the sidewalks and in the middle of the main road.” She suggested that “schools should expand their use of smart applications that alert parents precisely when their child leaves the classroom, so they can drive to the gate at the exact right time without having to wait for so long, which disrupts the normal flow of traffic.” Ahmed Saeed stated that “relying on school buses is an effective solution to the congestion crisis, but the high cost of school transportation prevents many families from subscribing. When the school demands high fees for each child separately, a parent with three or four children finds the cost of the bus becomes a huge financial burden beyond their means. This increase pushes parents to rely on… driving their own cars and enduring the hassle of waiting in the afternoon to save this budget,” He called on educational authorities and schools to reconsider these prices and offer discounts to siblings to encourage payment and participation in bus services.Others confirmed that the journey to school in the morning is short in duration, and they do not face major challenges during it. On the other hand, the journey back requires arriving early to reserve a parking space, and waiting around the school building until the children leave, and it lasts for about an hour with a large number of vehicles moving at the same time.Review of transport routesComplaints from families about the length of time their children spend on buses have prompted private schools in Dubai, Sharjah, and Ajman to review transportation routes, redistribute pick-up and drop-off points, reduce close stops, and study dividing the most crowded routes to limit the journeys that exhaust students before and after their school day.These reviews come under controls aimed at ensuring that the journey does not exceed 45 minutes for kindergarten students, and 60 minutes for the rest of the students, with the exception of emergency delays related to accidents and unusual traffic jams.Parents Mohamed Taha, Maysoun Ali, Ehab Ziada, and Hala Ahmed Maher said that the problem goes beyond “bus delays,” as a student who spends about an hour going and the same amount of time returning loses about two hours a day on the road. They urged schools to monitor the journey time of the first student to board the bus and the last student to arrive home.For his part, Khalid Abdul Hamid, Director of Dubai Modern Education School - Ministry Section, said that the first weeks of school represents a practical test of the efficiency of bus routes, as they reveal routes that take longer due to the distance of residential areas or the large number of pick-up and drop-off points. He stressed that the repetition of long journeys necessitates reviewing and re-engineering the route, instead of permanently attributing the problem to traffic congestion. He added that addressing heavy routes requires flexible operational solutions, including dividing long routes, redistributing students among buses, reducing the number of closely spaced pick-up points, and increasing the number of buses when student density is high. He pointed out that the addition of new students to the transport service after the routes have stabilised may necessitate re-planning some routes to maintain a suitable journey time.For her part, Reem Mahmoud, principal of Al Basair School in Sharjah, stressed the importance of dealing with complaints of repeated delays based on clear data, calling on families to record the bus number, the times of student boarding and arrival, and the days on which the delays are repeated. This helps the school and the transport operator to identify the source of the problem and take the appropriate action. She emphasised that assigning the bus service to a transport company does not end the school’s responsibility for follow-up, as the safety of students, the regularity of trips, and dealing with families’ observations remain an integral part of its responsibility towards its students.Safe transport is essentialFor her part, educational consultant Hikmat Al-Imam said that the quality of school transport is not measured only by the safe arrival of the bus, but also by the time it takes from the student’s day, warning that long and frequent trips may add a daily burden to study hours, especially for younger children. She stressed that the travel time should be viewed as part of the quality of the educational environment and the well-being of the student, which requires achieving a balance between the operational efficiency of bus routes and the student’s right to reach his school and home at an appropriate time, without unjustified depletion of his energy and time.For its part, the Ministry of Interior, as part of its campaign with the start of the school year, called for adherence to traffic rules during the period of heavy traffic, and for contributing to providing a safer environment for students, parents and road users, calling on families to be careful while transporting their children to schools, and to use the places designated for vehicle parking at schools, in order to avoid obstructing traffic.Traffic pressure worse in the afternoonDr. Jamal Al-Amri said: "The main problem with the return journey lies not in the capacity of the roads, but in the culture of waiting and time management." Picture credit: SuppliedTraffic expert Dr. Jamal Al-Amri stated: “The afternoon period witnesses intense traffic congestion due to the coinciding of students leaving school and employees leaving work. However, individual driving behaviours transform this natural flow into traffic jams that sometimes impede everyone.” Al-Amri added: “The main problem with the return journey lies not in the capacity of the roads, but in the culture of waiting and time management. Random and double parking in front of school gates, and the insistence of some parents or drivers on waiting for their children in undesignated areas, not only paralyses traffic on surrounding roads but also poses a direct danger to the safety of children as they navigate through the congested vehicles to reach their parents' cars.” He emphasised that resolving this issue requires genuine partnership and shared responsibility between families, schools, and relevant traffic regulatory bodies. Al-Amri called for staggering the dismissal of students at different times, with a 15-20 minute gap between different educational stages (such as kindergarten, then primary, then secondary), to distribute traffic density and alleviate sudden pressure, taking into account the possibility of multiple students from the same family. Different age groups for different educational stages could stand in a designated area, and he called for encouraging reliance on school transport, due to its efficiency and quality, by encouraging parents to register their children on school buses, as one bus contributes to reducing dozens of private vehicles and immediately reducing congestion in front of the gates. He stressed the need to use the side areas designated for parking and waiting, and to avoid standing at all in the middle of the road or in a second line, while using smart applications for schools that alert the parent to his child’s departure accurately so that he can head to the gate at the appropriate time without the need for a long wait.In addition, Federal National Council member Na’ama Abdullah Al Sharhan confirmed that the issue of the long travel time of students via school buses was raised with her by more than one parent, noting that she herself witnessed the suffering of a number of students, due to the location of her house on one of the streets through which school buses pass. Na’ama Abdullah Al Sharhan confirmed that the issue of the long travel time of students via school buses was raised with her by more than one parent. Picture credit: SuppliedAl Sharhan said: “I saw school buses depart before sunrise, especially during the winter days, and return at late times. I also noticed large crowding inside some buses, and the high number of students in them.” In some cases, a student's journey to and from school can take more than two hours due to the long route and numerous stops for students to get off and reach their homes. She emphasised that the UAE places great importance on human well-being and prioritises the quality of education and student welfare as key strategic objectives. She explained that the length of time students spend on the bus directly impacts their school day, adding: "When a student arrives at school after a long journey or returns home after hours of travel, they are exhausted. This fatigue can affect their concentration, comprehension, and academic performance. Therefore, addressing this issue is not only related to transportation but also to the quality of the educational environment students experience throughout the day." Al-Sharhan commended the efforts of educational authorities in this area, expressing her hope that the issue of long school journeys will receive greater attention and be among the priorities being addressed, given its direct impact on the start of the school day, students' activity levels, and concentration. She called for a review of school journey durations and efforts to reduce them, as well as a study on the suitability of school buses for different age groups. Al-Sharhan suggested studying the allocation of special routes for school buses during peak times, which would contribute to reducing travel time to and from schools and limiting the impact of traffic congestion on buses. She pointed out that this measure would reduce the time students spend commuting, enhance their comfort and readiness to start their school day, in addition to contributing to raising the efficiency of the school transport system and improving the level of service provided to students and parents.Special routes could helpMona Khalifa Hammad said granting school buses priority during peak hours would help reduce travel time for students. Picture credit: SuppliedFederal National Council member Mona Khalifa Hammad affirmed that the proposal to allocate dedicated traffic lanes for school buses during peak hours contributes to enhancing the efficiency of the school transport system, raising traffic safety standards, and alleviating congestion on roads during student arrival and departure times. She stated: "School buses transport a large number of students daily, and granting them priority during peak hours would reduce travel time to and from school, minimise waiting times and congestion around educational institutions, positively impacting students, parents, and the community at large." She added: “We need innovative traffic solutions that address the specific needs of school peak hours and efficiently utilise existing infrastructure. This includes allocating dedicated lanes for school buses at specific times, based on a thorough traffic study that considers traffic density, school locations, and road conditions, ensuring the desired benefits are achieved without negatively impacting other road users." She also noted that implementing such a proposal could encourage more families to rely on school transport, thus reducing the number of private vehicles traveling to schools and consequently alleviating traffic congestion. Regarding emissions and improving traffic flow, she added: “Investing in the efficiency of school transport is an investment in the safety of our children, their time, and the comfort of their families. Our goal is to make the daily journey to and from school safer and smoother, and to reach practical and sustainable solutions that meet the needs of our cities and support the quality of life.”
