UAE back-to-school traffic on Monday ran more smoothly than many parents expected, with staggered drop-off timings and new road capacity easing congestion for the first day of the new academic year. More than 1.2 million students returned to classrooms after a summer break of nearly two months.
Staggered timings and new lanes made a difference
Mirdif resident Tayyaba Anwar said the drive to Khawaneej was unusually clear. ‘Usually my route has a lot of traffic because it is a school area,’ she said. ‘But today I got almost no traffic. I believe it’s because a lot of public schools have staggered drop-off times.’
Emirati resident Mariam Ahmed, who commuted from Sharjah to Dubai after a nursery drop-off, said Emirates Road moved far faster than usual. ‘Sometimes it takes me 20 minutes or more to clear that area,’ she said of the Sharjah entry bottleneck. ‘But today, I didn’t encounter this issue. It is probably due to the opening of new lanes, which has contributed to an increased capacity for vehicles.’
Not every commute was smooth. Sharjah resident Eman Malik said her journey more than doubled. ‘During the summer, it took just over an hour to drop my daughters around the school area and then reach the office,’ she said. ‘On Monday, however, the commute time more than doubled to over two and a half hours because of the heavy traffic.’ She attributed part of the delay to active road construction in Sharjah on routes leading towards Dubai.
Federal flexible-work allowance in its third year
Public sector employees received flexibility of up to three hours on Monday to manage school drop-offs and pick-ups. The allowance, now in its third year, is set out in the Federal Authority for Government Human Resources (FAHR) Back to School Policy. The three hours can be split across a morning late-start and an early departure, and applies on the first day of school.
Parents of children in nurseries and kindergartens receive a broader allowance: up to three hours of flexible attendance per day across the entire first school week, according to the FAHR circular. The policy also permits flexible working on other occasions tied to the academic year, provided it does not disrupt the entity’s workflow or conflict with the Federal Government Human Resources Law.
Security patrols and road-safety campaign
The Dubai Police back-to-school security plan for the 2025–2026 academic year included 250 security and traffic patrols covering school zones, nine drones monitoring traffic flow and key sites, six luxury patrol cars, four mounted police units, and 60 bicycles. Field teams were deployed to 71 schools, including Hemaya schools. Earlier reporting separately reported 28 drones deployed this year; the Dubai Police official portal figure for the current plan is nine.
The Ministry of Interior’s annual ‘Accident-Free Day’ initiative, launched on 31 August, gives participants a chance to have up to four black points removed from their driving record. According to the Ministry of Interior, the deduction is applied automatically for all participants who avoid violations or accidents on the designated day, with no requirement to visit a traffic service centre.
Thomas Edelman, founder of RoadSafetyUAE, said parents set the tone for children’s road behaviour. ‘Parents must show good organisational habits by starting drop-offs early, to eliminate stress levels for all involved,’ he said. ‘Parents must behave at their best in the vehicle interacting with other road users, especially around the schools.’
Tayyaba said a roadside display in Mizhar caught her attention: a large yellow backpack bearing the message ‘Drive safe, the future of Dubai is in your car.’ The Sharjah construction work affecting inbound commutes is expected to ease over the coming months, which will be the first real test of whether journey times return to summer levels.
