Dubai overtakes Cairo in traffic congestion

Dubai The city has the most congested roads in the Arab world, with people spending an average of one hour and 45 minutes daily commuting between home and work, a survey of 14 majors cities showed.

Office workers in Dubai, the region's business hub and one of the fastest growing cities in the world, on average spend 12 minutes more on the road than their counterparts in Cairo, a city with more than 10 times Dubai's population and notorious for traffic problems.

Booming business, growing population, high car ownership and a lack of efficient public transport are behind congested roads, recruitment company GulfTalent said.

It surveyed 5,000 professionals, including 700 in Dubai and 100 in Sharjah, for the study.

The journey times are longer for those commuting to Dubai from Sharjah.

Parking space crisis

"Sharjah residents working in Dubai reported spending on average two hours 44 minutes for the daily return journey, much of it in bumper-to-bumper traffic.

"Many reported high levels of stress and fatigue as a result," the study said.

Dubai also topped the list as the city with the most acute shortage of parking space, with nearly half the respondents reporting difficulty in finding parking space near their workplace.

GulfTalent also said many employers in the emirate are becoming concerned about the impact of traffic-related stress and exhaustion on the productivity of their employees.