Dubai Forums Dubai Expat Forums Dubai Expat Help Forum

Hi there,

A few of my friends currently working in Dubai tell me I won't be able to get by without a car and that taxis are too expensive to use as a daily means of transportation. Is this the case? Is it hard to get around without one?
Jennifer

your main worry is how far your residency is from work.. also, a lot of companys will provide either transport, or a leased car for you to use. Check what they're offering (:

but ya you really do need a car, public transportation sucks (for now at least)

I think this must depend on where you come from. Compared to Australia taxis are a bargain and cheaper than anywhere I have lived or travelled in Asia except Japan though which was phenomenally expensive! Apparently renting/hiring a car is a good way to go if you are travelling alot...also buying a car as cars are cheap and so is petrol. I'll ask a taxi driver the fare structure because honestly I've never taken that much notice.

No. Taxis are incredibly cheap. If you live close to your work, in a metro area, you can easily get by with not car: Dubai Transport taxis are excellent, and can be quickly ordered straight to your door.

You can also arrange a shared car lift if you have a slightly longer commute - this is also a nice "green" option

Then for weekends, if you wanted to go to the desert, you could easily hire a car for Dh100 per day or so, even a 4WD if you wanted to.

Dh3 starting fare and about 80fils (100fils = 1Dh) per km my tax driver said today!

taxis are cheap only if you know your way around. They try to reap you off all the time. when a fare normally cost 25 dhs it will sometimes cost me 38 dhs.

A lot of taxi drivers here are very bad... they would pretend they don't know the way or went the wrong way. YES they pretend...so that they can go thur the wrong way drive around the blocks and charge you more.

The other time i was in a taxi and he missed the roundabout and I only realized it when he passed so I was looking around and asked him where he going, and he quickly saying 'Oh shit, I missed the road... oh shit' and I said yes you did, we should turn back there, then he shouted at me and said 'why didn't you tell me b4?' i was shocked, how could he blame me when I am the passenger? anyway he went all the way around and come back and end up it cost me 36 dhs instead of the normal fare 25, so I told him i will pay 30 only because of the normal fare only around 25-27, than he shouted at me again saying 'why didn't you tell me to stop the metre b4 if you are not going to pay' he said this is the company's money not his money. anyway i pay him the full fare, i didn't want to fight with him anymore.

if all fares go to the company, why the taxi drivers try so hard to cheat their customers?

Taxi drivers earn shockingly low wages, I always tip them. What a princess of a job.

And unlike in most countries, they are only paid on mileage. So if the poor bastard is stuck for 30/40 minutes in the rush hour - which is his valuable time, after all - he doesn't get any more money.

Taxi drivers earn a small percentage of their daily meter intake, AFTER the first Dh300 or so, which has to go to the company. (It used to be this way at least, several drivers told me this a few years back).

They take home around Dh1,300 to Dh1,600 a month, including tips.

Yes it is a princess of a job, but that still doesn't give them the right to rip people off. Alot of people in Dubai have s**t jobs.

Next time a taxi tries to rip you off just mention the word police to them. Then they'll change their attitude.

Really, you have to know your way around. Yesterday the taxi driver told me he had been here for 7 months but only driven for 11days!! "can you show me the way?" Yeah!! I've been here for just 3 months!! Anyway I actually did know the way but he wouldn't really listen....I found myself gritting my teeth and saying "right, right" and pointing!! I still tipped him...what is a few dirhams to me and I was just glad to get where I was going. By the way are car lifts safe for a female alone??

IT IS CALL ETHICAL... I don't earn much money either, does it give me right to cheat people for money? NO!!!!

I use taxis all the time, I used to spend 45 dhs each way to go to town and back home almost everyday when I was living further down jumeirah. Sometimes I only need to go across the street to the supermarket, but i use taxi to go anyway and everywhere. So the taxi drivers gave me shit everytime when i go short trips (they would tell me off, shouting and screeming saying I should wait for one taxi come by insead of get one for the taxi stand), and trying to make the way even longer when I go long trips.

a lot of people earn shit money here, not just taxi drivers... think about they are in the taxi with air condition all day, compare to the construction workers they are in the hot sun sweating everyday. Who has a more comfortable job?

A taxi driver is in service industry, meaning to serve customers... they should give the best service doesn't matter when. There is short trip customer and long trip customer, but they are all spending money to get the service.