UAE school pickup chaos: Why afternoon congestion is worse than mornings - and what parents can do

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 entrances In 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 routes Complaints 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 address