Getting Around Dubai

Nol Red Ticket
For the Occasional Traveller

Nol Red Ticket is a paper-based ticket that can be bought from any ticket vending machine at any time for only AED 2. It can be loaded with up to 10 Single Trips. Currently, this ticket can only be used on one mode of transport at a time (e.g. on Metro only, Bus only).
Key features

Low ticket price
Can be bought from any ticket vending machine at any time
Allows you to pay for the exact trip only

Nol Silver Card
The perfect starter card

Nol Silver Card is a smart card with an e-purse that can be loaded with up to AED 500. Enjoy the ease of getting this card immediately from any ticket office for only AED 20 (includes AED 14 e-purse value) and enjoy the convenience of using one card on all modes of transport.
Key features

Automatically calculates the cost of your trip and deduct it from your e-purse
Valid on all modes of transport
You can get it for a low price and use it immediately
Valid for 5 years

Fares :

silver card goldcars bluecard red card
Daily Fare Cap 14.00 14.00 1 14.00 n/a
Short Trip (< 3km) 1.80 3.60 1.80 2.00
Within 1 Zone 2.30 4.60 2.30 2.50
2 Adjacent Zones 4.10 8.20 4.10 4.50
More than 2 Zones 5.80 11.60 5.80 6.50
Student, senior citizen 2,3 N/A N/A 50% N/A
Disabled 4 N/A N/A Free N/A
Children 5 Free Free Free Free

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This means of transport is a blessing for Dubai. The city is quite sprawling, particularly on it's north-south axis, and without such a mass transit facility, getting around was a real struggle, especially during peak hours.

The metro is very efficient. The red line starts from Rashiiya (east of the airport), then it connects both of the airport terminals, passes through Deira (north of Dubai Creek), next there are two underground interchanges on either side of the Creek (Union, and Khalid bin Al Waleed) for connections to the currently under construction green line.

The red line then heads south through Dubai Mall (Burj Khalifa), the financial district, Mall of the Emirates, Ibn Battuta, all the way to Jebel Ali.

Stations and carriages are air-conditioned. Ticket desk officials are very helpful, and there are many leaflets expalining how the network is set-up, time-tables, and zonal charging structure.

You buy Nol cards and add credit on it, swiping it every time you enter and exit a station.

There are separate carriages for Gold Class, Women, and then the regular Silver Class.

The station design is unique & quite cool. They are quite distinctive when viewed from outside, and can be identified against the heavily developed highway & buildings if you look carefully.

A large part of the metro runs parallel to the Shaikh Zayed highway bearing north to south.

Dubai's Roads & Transport Authority (RTA) is to launch a travel pass for tourists in a bid to boost the number of visitors using public transport in the emirate.

The Dubai Travel Pass (Terhaal) will be marketed to tourists during their trips, to encourage them to use the metro and buses to get around.

The Dubai Travel Pass includes two Nol Cards (for Dubai Metro), each with a credit of AED 14 (US$3.81), booklets about the integrated public transport systems, maps, information of interest to visitors, places to visit and how to get to those places using public transport, as well as other general information such as telephone numbers of emergency service, police, embassies and ambulance.

The pack also includes value-added offers for use in Dubai on the trip.

The Dubai Travel Pass will be distributed across DNATA outlets, Duty Free shops of the Dubai airports, hotel and malls. The cards will also eventually be sold on Emirates aircrafts.

: I will keep you updated as and when more information becomes available.

Dubai Metro already existing for at least 1 year now (09-09-09). This is a great form of transport if you want to see around, a simple sight-seeing, mall tours, restaurant tours, etc.
It comes every 6 - 8 minutes and 4 minutes interval during rush hours. Convinient, safe, economical, great service.

so, hop in and enjoy the ride.

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Finally! A cheer of joy from us road-raged, stressed & tired Dubai residents: after years of nightmarish traffic gridlock and seemingly endless construction the Dubai Metro (driverless mono rail) is here! This is the Gulf's first mass transport system and was openend to the public on Sept. 10th 2009 after 4 years of construction. For now, only 10 stations along the "red line" are open, with the remaining stations (delayed due to the global financial crisis) set to be completed sometime in 2010.

Dubai's major traffic issues are, and always have been:
> Rush hour seems to merge into a consistent back & forth of commuters coming from Jebel Ali or Sharjah.
> Public transport is nowhere near sufficient. Busses are old, outdated and overcrowded. They too are delayed by the heavy traffic.
> There are thousands of taxis in Dubai, but the heavy traffic has made the drivers quite uncooperative.

Facts about Dubai Metro:
--Once in full operation, the Dubai Metro System is projected to carry approximately 1.2 million passengers on an average day, and 355 million passengers per year.
--The Dubai Metro System has top-of-the-class, air-conditioned modern trains. Each train is approximately 75m long, consisting of 5 cars.
--The trains offer a standard class, affordable to all, a women and children only section as well as an exclusive 1st Class.

Passengers can purchase one-way single fare tickets or more adviseable are the NOL Cards, which are valid for a certain number of trips in one or more "Zones" and can be re-charged when needed.

Visit the below Wojhati website to plan your trip, or click on this link for all information on the Dubai Metro (constantly updates): http://www.arabianbusiness.com/specialreports/dubai-metro.

I have used the metro a few times now and in general it's quite convenient. I have a NOL Card which you can either purchase for single trips, or re-charge and use whenever you travel with the metro.
Please note that eating and drinking is not allowed aboard the trains or on the platform itself.

-->UPDATE 2010: The RTA (Roads & Transport Authority) have started a website for planning your journey on the Metro: http://www.rta.ae/dubai_metro/english/home.html

If you want to go shopping, take the metro. Be your destination be Dubai Mall, Mall of the Emirates, City Centre - save money by taking the metro. Just remember that the first car is for female passengers and/with small kids. Men should take the other wagons/cars. Dress appropriately even when you are taking the public transportation - no plunging necklines, shorts or sleeveless.

The new metro is very comfortable and clean. At the moment only the red line is open. The red line was open between Rashidiya Station and Ibn Battuta Station with only a few stops not operational yet (Jebel Ali, Jebel Ali Industrial, Energy, Jumeriah Lake Towers, Nakheel, Sharaf DG, First Gulf Bank and Business Bay were not opened by 9th July 2010) The whole route took a bit over an hour. It was very useful for visiting certain sights:- Emirates Towers, Burj Khalife, Dubai Mall with its aquarium, ice-skating rink, Mall of the Emirates with ski Dubai, Ibn Battuta Mall.

Of course the metro is fully air-conditioned so a welcome respite from the heat.

Hi,

You are not mention that regarding for hotel and personal Allowance (money) or but you mention only trip according to my information i go through this site http://awayholidays.co.uk/dubai/ and get the information for Hotel & Flight but in case of personal Allowance (money) i can't suggest you because it is totally depends upon you.

thanks