Bus
Well-maintained minibuses or
buses operated by the Dubai-
based roads & Transport
authority (rTa; http://www.rta.ae))
travel to all the emirates, but
only services to Sharjah and
Ajman return passengers to
Dubai� From the other towns,
you have to come back by
local taxi or local bus� Routes
are generally served between
6am and 11pm� Buses are
air-conditioned but can be
overcrowded� Maps and time-
tables are available online and
at the two main bus stations,
which are Al-Ittihad in Deira
and Al-Ghubaiba in Bur Dubai�
al-ittihad bus station
Several services depart
from al-ittihad bus
station (Map p206; cnr of
omar ibn al-khattab & al-rigga
rds, Deira), next to the union
metro station� These include
buses to Fujairah (Dh25, two
to 2½ hours, every 45 min-
utes), Ajman (Dh7, one to 1½
hours, every 20 minutes),
Ras al-Khaimah (Dh20, two
hours, every 45 minutes),
Sharjah (Dh5, 40 to 60 min-
utes, every 10 minutes) and
umm al-Quwain (Dh10, 1½
hours, every 45 minutes)�
al-Ghubaiba bus station
al-Ghubaiba bus station
(Map p210; al-Ghubaiba rd,
bur Dubai) is next to Car-
refour supermarket� Bus
services include Abu Dhabi
(Dh20, two hours, every 40
minutes), Al-Ain (Dh20, 1½
hours, hourly) and Sharjah
(Dh5, 40 to 50 minutes,
every 10 minutes)�GeTTinG around
If you packed your trainers
hoping to do a lot of walking,
you will be disappointed� Ne-
gotiating the city by foot, even
combined with public trans-
port, is highly challenging,
not only because of the heat,
but also due to the lack of
pavements, traffic lights and
pedestrian crossings� It is not
unheard of here to be forced
to take a taxi, merely to reach
the other side of the road�
Most visitors get around
town via taxis� The Dubai
metro is also an excellent
mode of transport with two
lines and sparkling-clean
trains� Although bus lines
offer good coverage, they
are slow and have baffling
timetables�
There is a good service of
feeder buses that link the Burj
Khalifa metro station with
Dubai Mall, and the Mall of
the Emirates metro station
with the mall (although this
is walkable)� There are also
shuttle buses that connect
both malls with a number of
local hotels�Taxi
Taxis are operated by dubai
Taxi corporation (DTC;
%04-208 0808; http://www.dubaitaxi
.ae) and are metered, rela-
tively inexpensive and the
fastest and most comforta-
ble way to get around, except
during rush-hour traffic�fares
̈ Daytime flagfall for street
taxis is Dh3.
̈ Taxis ordered in advance or
from your hotel have a flagfall
of Dh6.
̈ The cost is Dh1.60 per kilo-
metre, and Dh1.70 for larger
people-carriers.
̈ From 10pm to 6am the start-
ing fare is Dh3.50 (Dh7 when
reserved).
̈ Trips originating at the air-
port have a flagfall of Dh25.reaching your
destination
Most taxi drivers speak at
least some English but des-
tinations are generally not
given via a street address�
Instead, mention the nearest
landmark (eg a hotel, mall,
roundabout, major building)�
If you’re going to a private
residence, phone your host
and ask them to give the
cabbie directions�Taxi Trouble spots
It’s usually fairly easy to
catch a taxi, but there are a
few places where long waits
are common� Expect lengthy
queues at the major shopping
malls on weekday evenings
(especially Thursday) and
Friday afternoons� There’s
also a chronic taxi shortage
near the abra (water taxi)
stations in Deira, by the shop-
ping district of Karama, in
Bur Dubai by the bus station,
and along The Walk at JBR in
Dubai Marina� Finding an avail-
able taxi is especially toughcliMaTe chanGe & TraVelEvery form of transport that relies on carbon-based fuel generates CO 2 , the main
cause of human-induced climate change� Modern travel is dependent on aeroplanes,
which might use less fuel per kilometre per person than most cars but travel much
greater distances� The altitude at which aircraft emit gases (including CO 2 ) and par-
ticles also contributes to their climate change impact� Many websites offer ‘carbon
calculators’ that allow people to estimate the carbon emissions generated by their
journey and, for those who wish to do so, to offset the impact of the greenhouse gases
emitted with contributions to portfolios of climate-friendly initiatives throughout the
world� Lonely Planet offsets the carbon footprint of all staff and author travel�TransP
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