MPs to Debate Ban on Delivery Bikes Using Main Roads

A call to bar delivery motorbikes from main roads will be debated in Parliament on Tuesday, even as a committee has urged MPs to reject it, warning it would shift congestion into neighbourhood streets and could push riders into cars.

The request, filed by MPs Bader Al Tameemi, Abdulwahid Qarata, Ali Al Doseri, Hamad Al Doy and Abdulla Al Rumaihi, asks the government to stop delivery riders using main roads and to curb traffic breaches linked to the trade.

Al Tameemi said the aim was direct. ‘The proposal by wish centres on banning delivery motorbikes from riding on main roads,’ he told colleagues, arguing that repeated road breaches by riders working for restaurants had become hard to ignore.

He pointed to what he said had been seen in recent weeks, with some riders using the left side of main roads. ‘Recently, many traffic violations have been observed by motorbike riders using the left side of main roads, putting themselves and others at risk,’ he said, warning that crashes can lead to severe injuries and death. He also said the move would mirror rules used in Kuwait and would curb bikes moving between governorates.

But the Foreign Affairs, Defence and National Security Committee told MPs to vote the proposal down. In its report, it said many areas cannot be reached through side streets alone, meaning riders would still need main roads to get to internal and secondary routes. A ban, it said, would pile more vehicles onto smaller roads and worsen traffic queues.

The committee also warned of a knock-on effect: blocking bikes from main roads could lead riders and firms to switch to cars for deliveries, adding to traffic and slowing the flow.

The Ministry of Interior, through the General Directorate of Traffic, backed those concerns. It said Bahrain’s road network is built as a linked system, with main roads feeding into side routes, junctions, cities and other districts, and that a ban would be hard to carry out on the ground.

The directorate said it was already stepping up checks on delivery riders who break the rules, with action taken under the traffic law, including impounding delivery bikes. It said 1,005 delivery motorbikes were impounded from 2022 until February 2025.

It also told MPs it was close to finishing a project to supply 500 smart cameras to record traffic offences, strengthen road monitoring and help track risky driving behaviour.

The ministry said its note was not the final government reply, and that a final position would be sent later in an official memorandum.