Dubai: Traffic crawled to a halt in many areas in Dubai this morning as hundreds of thousands of students returned to school after a long break and workers kicked off another working week.
Academic institutions around the country are expected to welcome back an estimated 1.6 million students who are returning to classes today after the summer vacation.
Motorists have been advised to drive with caution and use alternative roads, if possible, to avoid delays.
1.6 million students return to UAE schools
The Dubai Police reported at 8.51am that there was a traffic glut in the Dubai Mall tunnel towards Jebel Ali. “Please be careful and use alternative roads.”
8:51am#حالة_الطرق | #حادث مروري معرقل لحركة السير في نفق مركز دبي التجاري بالإتجاه إلى جبل علي يرجى توخي الحيطة والحذر واستخدام الطرق البديلة.
— Dubai Policeشرطة دبي (@DubaiPoliceHQ) September 2, 2018
As of 9.25am, roads near or around schools, such as The Indian High School, Philippine Business School, London Business School Dubai Centre, GEMS Winchester School, Dubai English Speaking School, Canadian University, Qurtoba Primary School, among many others, were also experiencing traffic jams.
Motorists plying near Jumeirah Lakes Towers, Wafi Mall, Al Mulla Plaza, Al Qusais and Dubai Media City were likewise stuck in slow-moving traffic.
Some sections of Shaikh Zayed Road, Al Khail Road and Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Road were also congested.
Although traffic may be bad for Dubai residents during rush hours and back-to-school season, the emirate isnt one of the most congested cities in the world.
According to the Inrix Global Traffic Scorecard, which rated the traffic situation in 1,360 cities around the world, Dubais traffic congestion is ranked 208th as of 2017, an improvement from the previous years 174th position.
Commuters in the emirate spent 29 hours on average in rush-hour traffic last year, a far cry from 102 hours in Los Angeles, the most congested city.
