🇦🇪 Dubai · Getting around
Transport and the shape of the city in Dubai
A fast metro that runs along one road, and a city built for cars everywhere else — so where you live decides whether you need one.
The thing people get wrongDubai's metro is excellent along Sheikh Zayed Road and irrelevant off it. A flat two kilometres from a station is not a walk here for eight months of the year, so treat “near the metro” as meaning within a few minutes on foot, or budget for a car.
Metro, tram and bus
The Red Line runs the length of Sheikh Zayed Road from the airport out past the Marina, and the Green Line loops through the older districts around the Creek. Between them they serve the corridor where most new arrivals work and live, and nothing much else. The Dubai Tram links the Marina and JBR to the Red Line, and RTA buses fill the gaps but are slow.
- One nol card covers metro, tram, bus and the water bus; buy it at any station.
- Fares are zonal, and there is a Gold class carriage at roughly double the standard fare.
- Monthly and annual passes exist and pay for themselves quickly on a daily commute.
Driving, Salik and parking
Most residents drive. Fuel is cheap by European standards, roads are good, and the practical costs are tolls and parking rather than petrol. Salik gantries charge automatically as you pass, with pricing that varies by time of day on some gates, and paid street parking is handled through the RTA app. Fines are issued by camera and accumulate quietly until you check.
- Salik: register the vehicle and keep the account topped up, or fines follow.
- Paid parking zones apply on weekdays; residential permits exist in some areas.
- Check fines regularly through the Dubai Police or RTA app rather than at renewal.
Taxis and ride-hailing
RTA taxis are metered, plentiful and inexpensive, and Careem and Uber both operate across the city. For most people arriving without a car, ride-hailing plus the metro covers the first month comfortably while the licence question is resolved. Airport runs are cheap enough that owning a car for that reason alone makes little sense.
Heat is a transport constraint
From roughly June to September, walking outdoors in the middle of the day is not a realistic option. Air-conditioned footbridges, metro station links and mall connections carry a surprising amount of pedestrian traffic, and a flat that is a pleasant ten-minute walk from the station in January is a different proposition in August. Factor the summer, not the viewing day.
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