Cyclists should now follow speed limits running from 20 km/hour on lanes shared with pedestrians in urban areas to 30km/hour on dedicated lanes for amateur cyclists.

Dubai’s Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) announced this on its website to ensure the safety of cyclists in collaboration with the Dubai Police General Headquarters.

Eng. Maitha Bin Adai, CEO of Traffic and Roads Agency, RTA, said the setting of speed limits for bikers on permissible zones and tracks is part of RTA’s responsibility under the Resolution of the Executive Council No. (IO) for 2015 and RTA’s standards for designing cycling tracks in Dubai.

“The objective of setting a speed cap for cycles on dedicated tracks is to ensure that legislation relating to cycling is aligned with the government’s policies aimed to make cycling a lifestyle in Dubai. It also responds to the fast growth in the use of cycles as a modern sportive mobility means compatible with the environmental standard to promote sound health and sports practices,” Bin Adai said in a statement.

Prior to its implementation, RTA conducted intensive research to fix the maximum cycling speed in different parts of Dubai.

The studies were based on some technical criteria, such as the land usage around cycling tracks, the number of entry/exit points, and the nature of the track in terms of width, design and the classification of nearby roads.

Cycling tracks with a speed limit of 30km/h include those at Nad El Sheba and Meydan as well as the joint tracks at Al Qusais, Al Karama and Al Mankhool.

Speed limit within urban areas on lanes was set at 20km/hour.

“There is no speed limit for cyclists on external tracks such as Seih Assalam and Al Qudra. Cyclists are urged to comply with the safety stipulations and observe the users of these tracks. RTA will review these speed limits as part of the general review and update the integrated cyclists and pedestrians manual 2021,” Bin Adai added.