RTA Dubai, i,e, the Dubai Roads and Transport Authority, has announced a new school transport pilot to alleviate congestion during peak school hours as part of its broader plans to reduce dependence on personal vehicles and enhance daily transit within the emirate. The program is scheduled for the first half of 2026 and will introduce shared school bus services in several schools within specified geographical areas.
The plan aims to reduce the increasing volume of individual vehicles on the road in Dubai during the morning and afternoon school run by persuading motorists to share the road and optimize their routes. The pilot will be introduced as a joint project with Yango Group and Urban Express Transport after the three parties have signed memoranda of understanding with each other.
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How the initiative will work
In the new model, the students in the various schools that are in the same locality will be transported in shared buses. The service will be based on smart technology solutions, which will facilitate the planning of the trip, vehicle tracking, and operational control, which will provide efficient planning of the journey and faster travel.
The RTA gave the initiative that it would meet all accepted standards of safety, security, and regulatory standards that apply to school transport in Dubai and would provide an alternative to families who have dependable drop-off of their children in cars.
In an interview with Ahmed Hashem Bahrozyan, the CEO of the Public Transport Agency at RTA, the executive noted that the agency has realized a tangible increase in the number of people using their personal cars as a means of transportation to and from schools, which is one of the direct causes of congestion around schools.
The purpose of this initiative, as Bahrozyan explained, is to provide an alternative school transport service at a reasonable price, which contributes to the enhancement of traffic flow and makes the everyday movement experience more efficient.
Focus on pooling, sustainability and smart mobility
Bahrozyan described the initiative by stating that it is developed based on pooling, contributing to the increased utilization of vehicles, in addition to increasing the level of safety and quality of services of student transport.
The project is to investigate new school transport models that are grounded on pooling, minimizing traffic congestion during peak hours, and aligning with the strategic directions in digital transformation and environmental sustainability in Dubai, he added.
He added that the pilot is a step change in creating new models of school transport and will assist the authorities to determine the impact of operations and its impact on society before thinking of a broader implementation.
Role of partners
To assist the RTA, Yango Group will launch a data-driven school transport pooling model to combine students travelling along the same routes into shared buses running on optimized schedules. According to Islam Abdul Karim, the Regional Head of Yango Group, school transport has been one of the most complicated daily mobility challenges in cities.
This pilot proposes an efficient solution that involves technology and is aimed at facilitating efficiency as well as minimizing congestion, he said. Urban Express Transport will offer school bus pooling and flexible transport services. Its founder and CEO, Dr. Mohammad Al Hashimi, stated that the project will help to optimize buses, alleviate congestion, and improve the everyday commute of the students.
Part of wider traffic measures
The pilot extends previous RTA initiatives of reducing school-going congestion. In 2024, Dubai accepted a traffic strategy that will favour the use of school transport, a decision that is likely to enhance traffic congestion around schools by 13 percent. In the same year, RTA finished traffic enhancement initiatives in over 37 schools, which led to a 20 percent increase in peak-hour traffic. Under the new pooling initiative, RTA is optimistic about further alleviating congestion, enhancing road safety, and strengthening the role of Dubai as a global centre of smart and sustainable mobility solutions.