Traffic congestion tightens grip on Dubai and Riyadh

• Jams cost residents one week per year
• Situation worsening despite spending
• Toll schemes can ease pressure

Traffic congestion now costs residents of Dubai and Riyadh a full working week every year, underlining how it has become a defining feature of daily life in the Gulf’s major cities. 

Residents of Dubai spend an average of 35 hours a year delayed in traffic, while those in Riyadh experience 34 hours of delays, according to a new report. 

During peak commuting periods, the impact is even more pronounced with rush-hour delays amounting to 46 hours a year in Dubai and 58 hours in the Saudi capital. 

The findings are published in Breaking the Middle East’s Billion-Dollar Traffic Challenge, which draws on 2024 data from global traffic analytics platforms INRIX and TomTom. 

The report’s authors do not give regional breakdowns but say congestion costs the global economy more than $500 billion a year.

According to the research, congestion is measured as the additional time spent driving compared with “free-flow conditions” when roads are operating without delays. 

Traffic is now a daily topic of conversation across many of the Gulf’s urban centres, shaping when residents leave home, which routes they choose and whether they decide to travel at all during peak hours. 

The report from management consultancy Oliver Wyman notes that congestion management schemes are designed to drive road-user behaviour.

Average congestion levels mean journeys now take 25 percent longer than free-flow conditions in Dubai and 28 percent longer in Riyadh, despite both cities having invested heavily in highways, metro systems and public transport networks. 

The report places Gulf cities in a global context that is both reassuring and cautionary. 

Sergii Figurnyi/Alamy via Reuters

While Dubai and Riyadh are not yet among the world’s most congested cities, the analysis warns that “rapid population growth and the increase in private vehicles risk overwhelming recent efforts to curtail congestion”.

In Istanbul, residents now spend 105 hours a year delayed in traffic, with congestion levels exceeding 40 percent, a scenario highlighted in the report as an example of what sustained growth without demand management can produce. 

By contrast, urban centres that introduced congestion pricing earlier have shown measurable improvements. 

The report points to Dubai’s Salik system as an illustration of how congestion pricing can work.

Launched in 2007, the toll scheme has helped ease pressure on major thoroughfare Sheikh Zayed Road while becoming a profitable operation, reporting EBITDA margins above 80 percent.

The authors say similar measures could apply in Riyadh. 

Their analysis suggests toll gates on major corridors could generate $500 million to $750 million a year, while a broader congestion-charging zone could raise up to $1.75 billion annually.

The report argues that such revenues could be reinvested into public transport, infrastructure maintenance and sustainable mobility initiatives.

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Elsewhere, London cut congestion by 26 percent between 2002 and 2006 following the introduction of its congestion charge, while New York recorded a 25 percent reduction in delays within the first four months after launching congestion pricing in January 2025. 

The report argues that population growth will intensify pressure on road networks. 

With many Gulf cities projected to add millions of residents by 2040, it concludes that “building bigger road networks is no longer enough”.

Instead, it points to “well-designed congestion management schemes” – including urban tolling, dynamic pricing and reinvestment into public transport – as the most effective way to influence travel behaviour and prevent congestion from becoming an even greater drag on daily life.