Car Hire

If you decide to hire a car to get around the city, remember that traffic congestion in the UAE can be a real problem in peak hours, which occur three times a day: between 7 and 9am, 1 and 2pm and most of the evening from 6pm onwards.

It is compulsory to wear seatbelts in the front and it is illegal to use a hand-held mobile phone while driving. As you can well imagine, UAE is not short on petrol stations. Petrol is sold by the imperial gallon (an imperial gallon is just over 4.5 liters). Regular petrol costs Dhs 0.65 per gallon and premium is Dhs 0.95.

Road Rules

Drive on the right in the UAE. The speed limit is 60km/h, and 100km/h on the highways with a maximum of 120km/h. If you are caught speeding, you will be fined, but in some cases you will simply be sent a bill by police.

The traffic situation in UAE has improved immensely since the government started forcing people to pay for the privilege of parking throughout the core of the city. For years the flow of traffic within the city had always been congested, but now with a strictly enforced four-hour limit on parking the level of overcrowding has lessened. Tickets must be purchased from one of the numerous ticket-dispensing machines. Rates are 2 Dhs for the first hour, 5 Dhs for up to 2 hours, 8 Dhs for up to 3 hours and 11 Dhs for up to 4 hours. Place the ticket on top of your dashboard. Parking in the center is free on Friday and holidays

Public Transport

Since Dubai is one of the fastest growing cities in today's world, making the provision of high quality infrastructure facilities absolutely imperative, and since providing an advanced transport network for the people of Dubai has been high on the government’s agenda, which is evident from its initiatives to enhance the public transport facilities and improve roads across the emirate to make travel safer and smoother, the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) was formed by the decree number 17 for the year 2005.

RTA is responsible for planning and providing the requirements of transport, roads & traffic in the Emirate of Dubai, and between Dubai and other Emirates of the UAE, neighboring countries in order to provide an effective & an integrated transport system capable of achieving Dubai's vision & serving the vital interests of the Emirate.

Transportation in the United Arab Emirates is mainly possible by means of cars. Cars take up the largest portion of transportation in the UAE, which is followed by buses and then motorcycles.

Taxis

If you don't have a car of your own, then the best means of getting round in the UAE is by taxi. Taxis will take you within an emirate or from emirate to emirate, if you have the money. In the UAE, taxis are only allowed to take you from the emirate their vehicle is registered in, to any destination you wish to go but by law can’t bring you back. For example's sake, a cab registered in Dubai, can take you from Dubai to Sharjah but can’t pick you up in Sharjah and bring you to Dubai. I am not saying that taxis wouldn't do it, but by law they are not supposed to and if they are caught they will pay a large fine and most likely have they're taxi taken away from them for some time. It is a strange system, as taxis have to go back to their emirate empty after they drop someone somewhere. The main disadvantage is for the customers, as the taxi fares would be much less if taxis could take people from anywhere to anywhere.

Taxis in the UAE charge by law of the emirate or by meter. Meter taxis are widely used in Dubai while taxis in the other emirates charge according to the official price issued by the emirate. The table below contains official taxi fare prices for the emirates of Ajman and Sharjah.

Many individuals prefer to bundle together in taxis to reduce the price per person. Most emirates will have a taxi stand, where people come to share a cab to either go to another emirate or else to a far away area of the same emirate.

Dubai Taxi Stands

The most popular taxi stand in Dubai is the Deira taxi stand and it has buses that travel to nearly every emirate in the UAE at particular hourly or half-hourly intervals (or else when the bus fills). This Inter-Emirates bus system is run by the Dubai government's transportation system, Roads & Transport Authority(RTA). Dubai Transport took over the taxi stand in 1997, which was previously being run by station-wagon cabs that were not very clean or comfortable. RTA buses are clean, spacious, air-conditioned, and economical.

Sharjah Taxi Stands

There are no official taxi stands in Sharjah, but there are areas where taxis come when individuals want to travel to or from Sharjah. The main taxi area in Sharjah is opposite Fish Market. Individuals from Ajman who are heading to Dubai will normally stop in Fish Market to change cabs to continue on to Dubai. Similarly some individuals from Dubai heading to Ajman, will stop in Fish Market to change cabs to continue on to Ajman.

Ajman Taxi Stands

Similar to Sharjah, there aren't any dedicated taxi stand areas but there are a few locations where taxis will come to take people. The main area for taxi sharing in Ajman is Al Manama Street (the official name is Sheikh Rashid Street). You can catch a shared taxi anywhere along this street, which runs from the beach road (cornice) to the last round-about of Ajman.

Buses

Other than public transport, buses are used to transport children to school or workers to work.

Inter-Emirate Bus Services

As indicated above, Roads & Transport Authority (RTA) has been leading the UAE regarding luxury and cheap bus transportation between emirates.

Water Taxi

Scores of Abras constantly cross the Creek from early morning until around midnight. On the Deira side of the Creek, the dock is at the intersection of Al-Sabkha and Baniyas Road. On Bur Dubai side, the dock is at the west end of the souk. Abras are unlike service taxis, it leaves when full, but it never takes more than a few minutes for one or them to fill up.

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