Parents to save 15% on school buses as Dubai targets shorter, faster journeys

Dubai: Dubai’s Roads and Transport Authority has launched a pilot initiative aimed at reshaping the daily school run, seeking to raise the share of students using school transport to 60 per cent from the current 49 per cent, while cutting costs for families and easing congestion around schools.

The bus pooling service is designed to tackle mounting traffic pressure during peak hours, improve the quality of school transport services and reduce fees paid by parents. The authority said the programme could lower school transport costs by up to 15 per cent, with additional discounts for families with two or three children enrolled in the service.

RTA said the scheme could also significantly shorten journey times. In some areas, the average school trip could fall by 35 to 40 per cent, reducing a typical 40-minute journey to around 25 minutes, depending on distance and routing.

The authority said the pilot responds to repeated concerns raised by parents and aligns with Dubai’s long-term transport strategy. Its three main goals are to reduce the cost of school transport, shorten travel times for students and limit congestion in school zones during morning and afternoon rush hours.

The trial phase began with the start of the second academic term and will be evaluated at the end of the current semester, ahead of a possible rollout across all areas of Dubai at the beginning of the next school year.

Adel Shakri, director of planning and business development at the Public Transport Agency within the Roads and Transport Authority, said the initiative offers a new and distinctive service designed to encourage families to shift away from private cars.

“Our goal is to make school transport a practical and attractive alternative to private vehicles, particularly in areas where congestion around schools has become a daily challenge,” he said.

Shakri said the authority hopes the programme will raise school transport usage to 60 per cent of all students in Dubai, adding that the operating model draws inspiration from ride-hailing platforms that transformed the taxi sector.

“We hope this experience will succeed in the same way smart mobility applications reshaped urban transport,” he said. “The idea is to operate shared buses that serve multiple schools within defined geographic zones.”

Under the model, students following similar routes are grouped into shared buses operating on optimised schedules. The authority said this approach would improve vehicle utilisation while reducing both travel time and operating costs, with expected fee reductions ranging from 10 to 15 per cent.

The initiative is being implemented in partnership with Yango Group and Urban Express Transport, a collaboration that would help ensure competitive pricing and service quality.

Shakri stressed that all existing safety standards governing school transport remain fully in place. These include smart route-management systems, vehicle tracking, onboard monitoring and cameras, as well as regulatory and legislative requirements.

“Our priority is to reduce time and cost without compromising safety,” he said.

School transport fees currently vary depending on distance, school and other factors, but the authority said the programme aims to gradually reduce prices, particularly for households with more than one child.

The Roads and Transport Authority recently signed two memorandums of understanding with Yango Group and Urban Express to implement the pilot during the first quarter of 2026, following an increase in the number of private vehicles used to drive students to school.