[Editor’s Note: This article is part of Khaleej Times’ Schools and Parents, a dedicated section designed to support families in the UAE as they explore educational choices. The section offers explainers, guidance from education leaders, expert advice and insights from parents to help readers make informed decisions about schools, curricula and communities.]
As more families make the UAE their home, traffic bottlenecks at school entrances, inadequate parking spaces, and peak-time congestion have become a familiar sight in Dubai’s busiest school zones.
Recently, Dubai’s Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) completed traffic improvement works at 10 school-zone locations, benefiting 27 schools across the emirate during the summer of 2025.
The upgraded zones include Al Warqa 1, 3, and 4; Al Safa 1; Al Barsha 1; Al Garhoud; Al Mizhar 1 and 4; Al Qusais; and Al Barsha South.
Here’s a closer look at the challenges parents and schools face — and the solutions being tested.
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1. Peak-time traffic volume
For many families, the daily commute nearly doubles during school hours. Filipino parent Ben Lebig, who lives in Dubai Silicon Oasis, said, “The commute that otherwise takes 20-25 minutes takes around 40-45 minutes during school hours.”
Lebig emphasised cooperation between schools and parents. “My advice to parents who come to drop their children to school is that they need to be patient and considerate towards others, and they should not stop or park their cars in the middle of the road.”
2. Bottlenecks at school entrances
“School zones quickly turn into choke points during drop-off and pick-up times,” said Dubai resident Lara Smith. “Even if parents stop for just a minute, traffic piles up. One car halting is immediately followed by another, and soon a long line of vehicles forms.”
To ease the flow in certain areas, RTA has widened roads leading to the Al Warqa schools complex and created new entrances and exits for schools in Al Mizhar and Al Warqa.
3. Inadequate parking spaces
Parents often struggle to find legal parking near schools. “The problem worsens when drivers do double parking or even park on pavements to walk their younger children to the school gate,” another parent, Bhavya Rao added.
Schools emphasised that they are establishing a strong working relationship with local authorities, including the traffic department and the police.
Seema Umar, Principal, Dewvale School, Dubai, said, “We’ve together assessed key congestion points and implemented staggered drop-off and pick-up zones. We’ve also introduced staff and parent volunteers to supervise. While space remains limited, we’ve worked with the authorities to temporarily ease restrictions on nearby residential streets during school hours.”
4. Narrow exits and double parking
Some school clusters face added challenges with limited exit points and ongoing construction in surrounding areas, which funnel traffic into smaller roads.
Deepika Thapar Singh, CEO-Principal, Credence High School, Dubai said, “Parents are often pressed for time, which sometimes leads to hurried driving or double parking. However, with the presence of security patrols and consistent guidance from staff, we have observed a marked improvement in traffic flow.”
The RTA’s plan includes building new exits for certain schools and traffic-calming measures, such as pedestrian signals, to balance safety with smoother traffic flow.
5. Parents stopping outside school gates
Portuguese expat, Cristina De Sousa noted another problem. “I’ve also noticed that some older parents get too absorbed in talking to their children while they are behind the steering wheel, with students take their time gathering their school bags and belongings. With younger kids, the kiss-and-drop often takes much longer as well. All this further slows down the flow.”
6. Safety patrols and crossing times
While traffic marshals are stationed outside most schools, parents believe more could be done. “Although traffic marshals around school zones do a fairly good job, deployment of more traffic marshals could enable a smoother experience for parents,” said Eman Malik.
These patrols also play a vital role in ensuring that children crossing the road are protected, especially in crowded school clusters such as Al Barsha, Al Mizhar, and Al Safa.
Tackling traffic woes
Experts stress that simple discipline and time management by parents could help reduce chaos.
They underline that buses remain the most effective way to reduce congestion. Thomas Edelmann, Founder of RoadSafetyUAE, said,
“Move as many students as possible to school buses – one school bus can take up to 50 cars off the road. In clusters, offer staggered start times. Police presence – much misbehaviour of drivers can be avoided. Parents discipline is important. Drop-off children way before school starts and pick them up a while after school finishes. Caring manner of motorists – not only our own children matter, but everyone else, too.”
Meanwhile, the UAE’s largest school transport firm, School Transport Services (STS Group) operates across 90 schools, completing more than 206,000 student journeys every day with a fleet of 3,600 buses.
Specialists here also highlighted that with smarter route planning, real-time tracking and even limited bus-only lanes near school clusters, buses can move more efficiently.
Steve Burnell, CEO of STS Group, added, “On-site bus zones reduce roadside queues, while redesigned drop-off and pick-up areas with separate zones for buses, parents and staff avoid conflicts and speed up movement.”
STS has even piloted new services. “We recently launched our Spot 2 Spot service at two schools in Dubai,” Burnell explained. “It is designed for students living in nearby residential communities who might not usually use a bus. By offering shorter, more direct journeys, we provide a safe alternative to private cars while further reducing congestion.”
What’s next?
The RTA has confirmed that more traffic solutions are planned for 2025, focusing on additional school zones such as Al Barsha 1, Umm Al Sheif, Al Barsha South, and Al Warqa.
From bottlenecks to parking shortages, Dubai’s school traffic issues are layered — but solutions are underway. Experts and parents agree: a mix of smarter infrastructure, wider adoption of school buses, staggered timings, and responsible driver behavior can ease the crunch.
As Edelmann pointed out, “Creative ideas need to be created by schools, students, parents, teachers themselves … for example ‘park & ride’ parking lots away from the schools, where students can have their bicycles safely stored and then ride/walk on a safe passageway to their school.”
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