Only one per cent of journeys in Dubai use school buses and 88 per cent of pupils use private cars to get to school, according to Roads and Transport Authority statistics released on Sunday.
Mattar Al Tayer, the authority’s director-general, said the school transport sector in Dubai faced numerous challenges, one of which is the geographical distribution of schools across the emirate resulting in high pressure on roads adjacent to schools.
Others include the low percentage of school bus users. Only 11 per cent of the total number of schools trips are made by school bus, compared to 32 per cent in the United States, for example. The low occupancy rate of school buses, at 53 per cent, has the knock-on effect of more environmental pollution and traffic.
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“The RTA has upgraded the technical specifications of school buses and defined the responsibilities of operators, schools and parents to improve safety and security,” Mr Al Tayer said. “[We] are poised to enact legislation and incentive programmes to streamline the school transport sector and encourage students to use school buses and mass transit means.”
One of the major concerns among parents was the safety of their child on a school bus.
“It's hard for me as a parent to feel comfortable enrolling my child on the bus, partly because she's five and still quite young but also because I've seen how the bus drivers drive, and it's not in a way that puts a parent's mind at ease,” said Mariam Azzam, a Jordanian stay-at-home mother. “They speed, weave in and out of traffic, all to make it to school on time in the mornings, and it's worrying. Some bus rides can also take an exorbitant amount of time.
“It's too long for the younger children to be on the bus, and there's too much of a risk that they might fall asleep and then get forgotten on the bus.”
Ms Azzam said that when you factor in the high fee for school buses and the fact that it is often not covered by employers as part of the school fees package, using a bus simply did not make sense.
“I, for one, would rather not use the bus system, no matter how much the RTA tries to convince me otherwise,” she said. “I’m able to drop my daughter off or pick her up, which also gives me the opportunity to connect with her teacher, see her classroom and get to know other parents. For the older children, the bus makes sense.”
Rebecca Chamas, from the UK, agreed. “l think it's a great initiative from an environmental perspective as Dubai is very polluted,” said the mother of two. “I personally never considered putting my children on a school bus because of the lack of safety on the roads.”
While school bus drivers are supposed to be trained to drive safely, she said she had heard first-hand accounts from parents who had seen them speeding and driving off hastily after drop-offs.
“Nannies and supervisors aren't efficient at maintaining order on the bus as children undo their seatbelts,” Ms Chama added. “The seatbelts on the buses are not adequate to protect the children in case of a collision so my main issue really is general road safety in Dubai. There are too many bad drivers.”
Joyce Amm, a producer from Lebanon, sends her children, aged three and five, on the bus. “I’m a working mother so I’m not always available to pick them up,” she said. “I find them to be better than private drivers because my issue is that I would need to hire a nanny to pick them up from the class and I wouldn’t really trust the driver with all the stories out there.”
Ms Amm said she considered the bus safer thanks to its on-board nanny and teacher’s assistant that meets children at the bus.
“If they’re missing, they inform you via email, so it’s more controlled,” she said. “My experience with the bus has been good. For the environment it’s definitely better but if I’m not working, I’d rather pick up my children because I think it’s better for them emotionally as they’re still young.”
Transport experts said school buses played an important role in reducing traffic, in educating children and in avoiding CO2 emissions.
“We see 11 per cent as a very low level of school bus utilisation and we would like to see this number growing,” said Thomas Edelmann, founder and managing director of Road Safety UAE. “Many private cars can be taken off the roads during rush hours, which will lead to less traffic congestion and to a reduction in CO2 emissions. Just think how many cars can be replaced by one school bus.”
School bus drivers and attendants could teach children about safe behaviour in and around vehicles, he said, like how to use seatbelts correctly and how to cross roads safely.
“We believe the school bus eco-system can play a very important 'hands-on education' role,” added Mr Edelmann. “Higher school bus utilisation will also … lead to reduced school bus fees, which parents for sure would appreciate.”
School bus trips account for 13 per cent of the total number of trips during the morning rush hours in Dubai.
Statistics showed that the number of pupils in public and private schools in Dubai last year was about 295,000.
Ten tax points to be aware of in 2026
1. Domestic VAT refund amendments: request your refund within five years
If a business does not apply for the refund on time, they lose their credit.
2. E-invoicing in the UAE
Businesses should continue preparing for the implementation of e-invoicing in the UAE, with 2026 a preparation and transition period ahead of phased mandatory adoption.
3. More tax audits
Tax authorities are increasingly using data already available across multiple filings to identify audit risks.
4. More beneficial VAT and excise tax penalty regime
Tax disputes are expected to become more frequent and more structured, with clearer administrative objection and appeal processes. The UAE has adopted a new penalty regime for VAT and excise disputes, which now mirrors the penalty regime for corporate tax.
5. Greater emphasis on statutory audit
There is a greater need for the accuracy of financial statements. The International Financial Reporting Standards standards need to be strictly adhered to and, as a result, the quality of the audits will need to increase.
6. Further transfer pricing enforcement
Transfer pricing enforcement, which refers to the practice of establishing prices for internal transactions between related entities, is expected to broaden in scope. The UAE will shortly open the possibility to negotiate advance pricing agreements, or essentially rulings for transfer pricing purposes.
7. Limited time periods for audits
Recent amendments also introduce a default five-year limitation period for tax audits and assessments, subject to specific statutory exceptions. While the standard audit and assessment period is five years, this may be extended to up to 15 years in cases involving fraud or tax evasion.
8. Pillar 2 implementation
Many multinational groups will begin to feel the practical effect of the Domestic Minimum Top-Up Tax (DMTT), the UAE's implementation of the OECD’s global minimum tax under Pillar 2. While the rules apply for financial years starting on or after January 1, 2025, it is 2026 that marks the transition to an operational phase.
9. Reduced compliance obligations for imported goods and services
Businesses that apply the reverse-charge mechanism for VAT purposes in the UAE may benefit from reduced compliance obligations.
10. Substance and CbC reporting focus
Tax authorities are expected to continue strengthening the enforcement of economic substance and Country-by-Country (CbC) reporting frameworks. In the UAE, these regimes are increasingly being used as risk-assessment tools, providing tax authorities with a comprehensive view of multinational groups’ global footprints and enabling them to assess whether profits are aligned with real economic activity.
Contributed by Thomas Vanhee and Hend Rashwan, Aurifer
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It's up to you to go green
Nils El Accad, chief executive and owner of Organic Foods and Café, says going green is about “lifestyle and attitude” rather than a “money change”; people need to plan ahead to fill water bottles in advance and take their own bags to the supermarket, he says.
“People always want someone else to do the work; it doesn’t work like that,” he adds. “The first step: you have to consciously make that decision and change.”
When he gets a takeaway, says Mr El Accad, he takes his own glass jars instead of accepting disposable aluminium containers, paper napkins and plastic tubs, cutlery and bags from restaurants.
He also plants his own crops and herbs at home and at the Sheikh Zayed store, from basil and rosemary to beans, squashes and papayas. “If you’re going to water anything, better it be tomatoes and cucumbers, something edible, than grass,” he says.
“All this throwaway plastic - cups, bottles, forks - has to go first,” says Mr El Accad, who has banned all disposable straws, whether plastic or even paper, from the café chain.
One of the latest changes he has implemented at his stores is to offer refills of liquid laundry detergent, to save plastic. The two brands Organic Foods stocks, Organic Larder and Sonnett, are both “triple-certified - you could eat the product”.
The Organic Larder detergent will soon be delivered in 200-litre metal oil drums before being decanted into 20-litre containers in-store.
Customers can refill their bottles at least 30 times before they start to degrade, he says. Organic Larder costs Dh35.75 for one litre and Dh62 for 2.75 litres and refills will cost 15 to 20 per cent less, Mr El Accad says.
But while there are savings to be had, going green tends to come with upfront costs and extra work and planning. Are we ready to refill bottles rather than throw them away? “You have to change,” says Mr El Accad. “I can only make it available.”
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4th Test December 26-30, Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne
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Southampton 3
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The Scale for Clinical Actionability of Molecular Targets
