UAE traffic woes: what do motorists think? (Research Project)

Much is talked and written about the UAE traffic woes and the view of the public must be added to the ongoing process of understanding the reasons, addressing the issues and improving the situation.

“We wanted to elevate the discussion related to road traffic congestion from anecdotal evidence to a fact-based and well researched approach. We are a very analytical and numbers-based organization and we saw it within our corporate DNA to team up with RoadSafetyUAE to jointly work on this highly debated area, as road traffic and road traffic congestion is of big relevance of everyone in the UAE, on a daily basis.”, said Muralikrishnan Raman, Chief Financial Officer, Al Wathba Insurance.

Thomas Edelmann, Founder and Managing Director of RoadSafetyUAE adds: “We have a track record of adding valuable research data to the discussion of road safety in the UAE over the years. In this latest study which we commissioned jointly with our CSR-Partner Al Wathba National Insurance, we want to provide input to the concerned authorities and stakeholders to understand the public perception about traffic congestion, how they see the reasons for it and on which areas they would focus to improve the situation. We have witnessed amazing efforts from the public stakeholders over time, and we want to do from our side what we can to support the process.”

How big is the problem?

The study shows, that 86% of respondents state they typically experience traffic congestion. The highest values we see in Dubai with 91% and Sharjah with 90%.

80% of respondents witness more traffic congestion this year than last year, with Dubai topping the list with 85%.

On which types of trips?

When probed about which types of trips traffic congestion was observed, the afternoon work commute tops the list, followed by the morning work commute and the morning school drop-offs. The list gets completed by weekend activities, afternoon school pick-ups and errands. Abu Dhabi scores highest in 3 dimensions and Dubai in 2.

What are the reasons?

The list of reasons for traffic congestion is dominated by ‘too many vehicles on the road’ and ‘all offices start at the same time’, with 65% and 54%, respectively. The top 4 get completed by ‘all schools start around the same time’ and ‘heavy dependency on private cars’ with 48% and 45% respectively. Poor driving behavior, low vehicle occupancy, not enough working from home, road design, lack of public transportation and lack of infrastructure for alternative modes of transportation follow with levels in the 20’s% range. 

What’s the solution?

We believe that understanding the public perception of a) the reasons for traffic congestion, and taking into consideration the 2^nd question we asked in this regard, namely b) where the public sees improvement potentials, will certainly help the concerned authorities and stakeholders to focus on the critical areas.

Respondents see these improvement potentials, with the top 4 mentions being to promote working from home, improve the public rail (metro, train) transportation offering, expanding the road network and improving the public bus service. Important to note, that the combined value for improving public transportation stands tall with 83% (metro, train, bus)!

The fieldwork of this research project was conducted in June 2025. It was commissioned by Al Wathba Insurance jointly with RoadSafetyUAE, and conducted by an international on-line research agency (representative UAE sample n=1,021).

The details of this survey can be found in the ‘featured’ section on: http://www.roadsafetyuae.com/statistics

About Al Wathba Insurance:

From the very beginning, Al Wathba Insurance has centered its business around people. Al Wathba Insurance has constantly innovated solutions to help manage risk in ways that meet the needs of the customer and the market. Now, with 25+ years of solid experience in servicing the UAE insurance market, a strong capital base and the support of a panel of internationally renowned reinsurers, Al Wathba Insurance is on its way to being the Company of Choice in the UAE, one that creates real tangible value to its stakeholders and provides the needed security and reliability to its customers. The Company is proud to be rated BBB- with a positive outlook by S&P global ratings and to have been recognized by the UAE’s insurance regulatory body for 2 consecutive years for its transformative digitized and smart technology.

About RoadSafetyUAE:

RoadSafetyUAE’s vision is to contribute to reducing the number of road traffic fatalities, injuries and accidents in the UAE. RoadSafetyUAE’s mission is to raise the awareness for proper conduct on our roads, in an engaging manner and on a broadly communicated and permanent basis. RoadSafetyUAE’s award-winning platform engages with the stakeholders traffic participants, governmental entities, the media, and more than 20 corporate social responsibility (CSR) minded partners. ‘Tips & Tricks’ are the content backbone, provided for more than 60 topics of road safety, all specifically relevant to the UAE. More can be found on www.RoadSafetyUAE.com