Air-conditioned parking, hot meals and shade now await Dubai’s delivery riders at 23 transit hubs, after the Roads and Transport Authority widened its summer rest-stop programme to keep pace with a fast-expanding workforce.
The total marks a jump from the previous year’s figures, with the authority confirming a 53 per cent increase and eight stations added to the roster. The sites sit at bus and metro stations chosen for their proximity to the largest concentrations of riders.
Among the locations are the bus stations at Gold Souq, Al Satwa, Al Jafiliya, Al Qusais and Al Karama, along with metro stops at Centrepoint, Al Furjan, DMCC, BurJuman, Ibn Battuta and e&.
The programme runs in step with the federal midday break, a rule from the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation that halts outdoor labour in direct sun between 12.30pm and 3pm. The ban took effect on June 15 and continues through September 15, covering the hottest stretch of the year when heat stress poses the greatest danger to those working outside.
Riders at the bus-station sites are also being fed during their breaks. The RTA said ready-made hot meals are being distributed there through a tie-up between the UAE Food Bank and Deliveroo.
The decision to add capacity tracks closely with the sector’s own growth. Delivery firms operating in Dubai have grown by roughly 18 per cent over the past year, with the count now standing at 2,948 companies, according to the RTA.
Authorities framed the rest areas as a road-safety measure as much as a welfare one, citing the potential to cut accidents involving riders and to give them somewhere to wait between orders. The RTA said the broader aim is to lift riders’ wellbeing and strengthen compliance with traffic rules across the emirate.
