Can Smart School Pooling Save Dubai Drivers from the September Gridlock?

The busy traffic on main roads like Sheikh Zayed Road (E11), Emirates Road (E311) and Sharjah-Dubai road becomes quieter on major roads as schools close for the holidays and many residents head overseas. Commute time is reduced, rush hour traffic congestion is eliminated and drivers will find their trip across the emirate to be smoother.

Yet during this temporary respite, there will be pain and tear as well. However, the client traffic returned to normal in September and the questions now arise why traffic numbers are so high in the summer months and can Dubai keep up its summer demand for traffic volume throughout the year?

Why Does Traffic Improve Every Summer?

The number of school buses running every day has contributed to this dramatic reduction in congestion, as part of the target areas for the service. Thousands of parents travel the streets in the mornings and afternoons of every school day making every day during the academic year one hit the road.

It’s even stronger if paired with people commuting to certain business areas in Dubai from places such as Sharjah and the Northern Emirates. Existing road infrastructure works much more effectively during school break when most of the residents are gone from the country during holidays.

RTA’s Smart School Pooling Initiative

Schools every year produce a large number of cars on the road and to mitigate the traffic burden on the roads Dubai’s Roads and Transport Authority introduced the smart school pooling pilot programme.

As a complement to transport technology providers like Yango Group’s bus and group coach services, and Urban Express Transport, it adopts shared school bus services for multiple schools in specific geographic areas. Students can be transported in an optimized transport route by multiple vehicles driving together, with communications replacing the need for one-to-one conversations between the driver and the student.

How Could School Pooling Reduce Congestion?

Whereas the concept is quite simple and yet influential. Individual car rides would be replaced by organised shared rides of thousands of vehicles heading to their destinations from Dubai on a weekly basis if more parents opted to use organisational shared transport.

By reducing the traffic volume delivered by private schools to the roads, traffic on surrounding highways, residential roads and in major intersections is also enhanced.

More Than Just School Buses

The smart pooling programme is part of a comprehensive plan and package designed to tackle congestion before it becomes “critical”.

The RTA has also planned for the upgrade of infrastructure along 28 traffic bottlenecks, during the less busy summer season, in addition to school transport improvements. The projects involve carrying out the widening works of several key sections of Emirates Road near Sharjah border, as well as improving the efficiency of the junctions.

The so-called “quick wins” are supposed to get the network ready in advance for its new bumper of traffic in September.

The Role of Employers

Road safety and road users and operators experts confirm that roadway capacity is not the only solution to decrease congestion. Long-term improvements also rely on the changes of health and safety at the workplace.

Flexible hours, flexible working options or rung working schedules can help to level traffic over a number of hours rather than focusing it into a small morning ride. Together with the more intelligent school transport these measures could have a significant positive effect on the commuting situation in the schools throughout the year.

Benefits Beyond Faster Commutes

Having fewer cars traveling on the road can help to reduce emissions, fuel usage, improve road safety around schools and help cut stress from parents no longer having to complete daily drop offs and pickups.

Shorter journey times may also benefit firms in terms of increased productivity among their staff and a reduction in delays due to congestion.

Can It Really Prevent September Gridlock?

Although it is not a solution that is able to cure the issue of congestion, managing pools in schools as an important aspect of Dubai’s overall mobility strategy is feasible.

Engagement throughout the family, schools, transport and employers will be critical to its success. The scheme has the potential to keep some of the more serene driving conditions which motorists enjoy during July and August throughout the whole year and could make September’s school run much less stressful.

FAQs

What is Dubai’s smart school pooling programme about?

V2G is a program of the RTA, focused on the reduction of the number of private cars going to and from schools using shared school buses and realignment of transport routes.

Why is there so little traffic in the summer in Dubai?

There is reduced traffic during school holidays and many residents do not commute, as they travel overseas, which results in lower volumes of schools’ run traffic and commuting traffic.

Who will provide the support for the school pooling program?

The pilot programme is being trialled with the participation of transport partners with whom it is implemented such as Yango Group and Urban express transport.

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