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Dubai public buses Dec 14, 2007
A few days ago, i had this ridiculous (and dirt cheap) idea of getting to know the city more (i got here less than a month ago) by getting on a bus leaving from Satwa bus station and getting off at the end of the route which in this case is at Hor Al Anz.

I though I'm ready to experience the (in)famous traffic here. the bus left Satwa around 3:45pm. it was nice at first, and comfortable, until we got caught in this never ending maze of roundabouts. i swear i remember the bus circling karama and deira 3 times!! i do not get car sick, it was my fist time and i'm sure it's not because i'm hungry.

The bus finally arrived in Hor Al Anz around 6:45 pm, more than 3 hours for less than 50 km distance!! wow! I cringed thinking of the journey back. and there i was braving the bus again. it was as uncomfortable as the first one. I can feel my butt go numb for sitting for so long. :lol:

the driver can be quite grouchy sometimes.

i got home at 10pm...

what a day!

miss_mel
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Dec 15, 2007
Haha! That'll teach ya!
gtmash
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Dec 15, 2007
The 'X' service bus runs along Jumeirah Beach Road to Media City and the Marina and there is a service every 15 minutes.
Cost from Jumeirah 1 to DIMC: 4 Dhs!!!!!
The same trip by taxi costs 50 Dhs.
Bus trip time: 2 hours!
Taxi trip time: 15 minutes

Now you know why almost everyone here has a car.

Be interesting to see the equivalent by Metro when it opens, however the nearest station is a good cab ride from the Beach Road.

:shock: :shock: :shock:

Knight
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Dec 15, 2007
Dubai Knight wrote:The 'X' service bus runs along Jumeirah Beach Road to Media City and the Marina and there is a service every 15 minutes.
Cost from Jumeirah 1 to DIMC: 4 Dhs!!!!!
The same trip by taxi costs 50 Dhs.
Bus trip time: 2 hours!
Taxi trip time: 15 minutes

Now you know why almost everyone here has a car.

Be interesting to see the equivalent by Metro when it opens, however the nearest station is a good cab ride from the Beach Road.

:shock: :shock: :shock:

Knight


Wow, haven't been on a Dhs 4 bus ride yet. That'd mean the train will be 5 bucks or more, so they can cover the costs of the unnecessarily fancy train. The buses take ages to come, and since the stations are a bit far from most people's homes AND taxis don't do small fares, it is easy to guess how many car owners will give up their cars. None.
gtmash
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Dec 15, 2007
Thats the sad but true state of Dubai's only public commutation system. You can go to the worlds end and come back for the time u've to wait for a bus. And when they arrive to a waiting station they come in multiple numbers much to the dismay of the waiting passenger with not much idea abt the place names. Another interesting feature i've noticed is the scrolling place indicator inside the buses. Some of the drivers rightly keep them switched off but some others who forget to switch it off mislead the poor commuter. Last time I travelled in a bus I noticed the scroller plate showing Gold Souk when the bus was just around the burjuman round about in bur dubai.
St.Lucifer
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Dec 15, 2007
as if my first ( :evil: ) bus experience wasn't enough, i just got home from gold souk to al satwa on a 9D bus, and to my surprise...it wasn't as bad as the first one, a fairly short trip via dubai dry docks and past iranian hospital.

although i must add, some people doesn't know how to queue and even cut me off!! :x
miss_mel
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Dec 15, 2007
miss_mel wrote:as if my first ( :evil: ) bus experience wasn't enough, i just got home from gold souk to al satwa on a 9D bus, and to my surprise...it wasn't as bad as the first one, a fairly short trip via dubai dry docks and past iranian hospital.

although i must add, some people doesn't know how to queue and even cut me off!! :x


You'll get used to the queuing here. (or lack of it)
^ian^
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Dec 15, 2007
miss_mel wrote:as if my first ( :evil: ) bus experience wasn't enough, i just got home from gold souk to al satwa on a 9D bus, and to my surprise...it wasn't as bad as the first one, a fairly short trip via dubai dry docks and past iranian hospital.

although i must add, some people doesn't know how to queue and even cut me off!! :x


Its called 'Horizontal Queueing': The line is only 3 people deep...but 50 people wide!

This being Dubai, if someone pushes in in front of you, damn well tell them and force them to the back of the queue. You will get some dirty looks and they will blank you, but its quite satisfying from a personal point of view!

:lol: :lol: :lol:

Knight
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Dec 16, 2007
Dubai Knight wrote:
miss_mel wrote:as if my first ( :evil: ) bus experience wasn't enough, i just got home from gold souk to al satwa on a 9D bus, and to my surprise...it wasn't as bad as the first one, a fairly short trip via dubai dry docks and past iranian hospital.

although i must add, some people doesn't know how to queue and even cut me off!! :x


Its called 'Horizontal Queueing': The line is only 3 people deep...but 50 people wide!

This being Dubai, if someone pushes in in front of you, damn well tell them and force them to the back of the queue. You will get some dirty looks and they will blank you, but its quite satisfying from a personal point of view!

:lol: :lol: :lol:

Knight



horizontal queueing... :lol:
that's interesting
and so is forcing someone to the back of the line but does this also apply to women wearing long black dresses ? :?

mel
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Dec 16, 2007
^ian^ wrote:
miss_mel wrote:as if my first ( :evil: ) bus experience wasn't enough, i just got home from gold souk to al satwa on a 9D bus, and to my surprise...it wasn't as bad as the first one, a fairly short trip via dubai dry docks and past iranian hospital.

although i must add, some people doesn't know how to queue and even cut me off!! :x


You'll get used to the queuing here. (or lack of it)



i think i'm getting used to it already ian


mel :)
miss_mel
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Dec 16, 2007
seriously... the bus service in dubai is horrible... i had heard tht its quite good and it connects the whole city and blah blah blah..... but i guess the only chance to get on a bus is at the starting point.... i am in abudhabi and rarely do i come over to dubai if i dont get a car... but twice i have had to wait for a bus in dubai... first was near lulu in qusais... wanted to get to deira.... waited for almost two hours... all the buses were full when they reached there and so the driver was not allowing anyone in... atlast i took a taxi....

another time... from qusais to ibn battutah mall.... same case... buses were too full... and in the end i had to take taxi... cost me 100 aed...
SparHawk
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Dec 16, 2007
SparHawk wrote:seriously... the bus service in dubai is horrible... i had heard tht its quite good and it connects the whole city and blah blah blah..... but i guess the only chance to get on a bus is at the starting point.... i am in abudhabi and rarely do i come over to dubai if i dont get a car... but twice i have had to wait for a bus in dubai... first was near lulu in qusais... wanted to get to deira.... waited for almost two hours... all the buses were full when they reached there and so the driver was not allowing anyone in... atlast i took a taxi....

another time... from qusais to ibn battutah mall.... same case... buses were too full... and in the end i had to take taxi... cost me 100 aed...


oi! we dont really allow abudhabi folkes to get into our beloved on time dubai buses..lucky u were let in...
St.Lucifer
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Dec 16, 2007
St.Lucifer wrote:
SparHawk wrote:seriously... the bus service in dubai is horrible... i had heard tht its quite good and it connects the whole city and blah blah blah..... but i guess the only chance to get on a bus is at the starting point.... i am in abudhabi and rarely do i come over to dubai if i dont get a car... but twice i have had to wait for a bus in dubai... first was near lulu in qusais... wanted to get to deira.... waited for almost two hours... all the buses were full when they reached there and so the driver was not allowing anyone in... atlast i took a taxi....

another time... from qusais to ibn battutah mall.... same case... buses were too full... and in the end i had to take taxi... cost me 100 aed...


oi! we dont really allow abudhabi folkes to get into our beloved on time dubai buses..lucky u were let in...


hiii... guess u dint read my post properly.... both of the times, i wasn't able to get in the bus.... i waited for about two hours and then took a taxi.....
SparHawk
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Dec 16, 2007
St.Lucifer wrote:
SparHawk wrote:seriously... the bus service in dubai is horrible... i had heard tht its quite good and it connects the whole city and blah blah blah..... but i guess the only chance to get on a bus is at the starting point.... i am in abudhabi and rarely do i come over to dubai if i dont get a car... but twice i have had to wait for a bus in dubai... first was near lulu in qusais... wanted to get to deira.... waited for almost two hours... all the buses were full when they reached there and so the driver was not allowing anyone in... atlast i took a taxi....

another time... from qusais to ibn battutah mall.... same case... buses were too full... and in the end i had to take taxi... cost me 100 aed...


oi! we dont really allow abudhabi folkes to get into our beloved on time dubai buses..lucky if u r ever let in...
St.Lucifer
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Dec 17, 2007
The best value bus service is the one that runs between Dubai and Abu Dhabi...15Dhs! Bargain! Unfortunately, its a return service.

8) 8) 8)

Knight
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Dec 17, 2007
The problem with the X25 bus is that the time between buses gets longer during rush hour. When I leave the office here in DIC at 6:00, a bus arrives at around 7:30. And then there's the horizontal queueing, and the pushing and shoving, and the smell.

On the metro, I hope they don't forget to build pedestrian overpasses/underpasses across SZR on stations...
pinoy1
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Dec 17, 2007
pinoy1 wrote: and the smell.

...



you'd think they would sort it out eh!!
gezza
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Dec 17, 2007
gezza wrote:
pinoy1 wrote: and the smell.

...



you'd think they would sort it out eh!!


Right...and they are going to change the climate of Dubai and make it 20 degrees cooler in summer?

There is a billboard next to the Ittihad Road in Sharjah:
"Remember - personal body odour can be offensive!" Advertising stinks in this town!

:shock: :shock: :shock:

Knight
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Dec 17, 2007
Dubai Knight wrote:
gezza wrote:
pinoy1 wrote: and the smell.

...



you'd think they would sort it out eh!!


Right...and they are going to change the climate of Dubai and make it 20 degrees cooler in summer?

There is a billboard next to the Ittihad Road in Sharjah:
"Remember - personal body odour can be offensive!" Advertising stinks in this town!

:shock: :shock: :shock:

Knight





:lol:
miss_mel
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Dec 18, 2007
Sorry for being a little bit off topic here. I just got some - maybe stupid - question about the metro; when will it be finished and is it going to be all over UAE, or just in Dubai?

Is there any site out there that you can find out more about it?
Burken
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Dec 20, 2007
Burken wrote:Sorry for being a little bit off topic here. I just got some - maybe stupid - question about the metro; when will it be finished and is it going to be all over UAE, or just in Dubai?

Is there any site out there that you can find out more about it?


www.rta.ae

Due to be finished late 2008. Its only in Dubai, there are plans to take it to Sharjah and also for it to link to a new railway line being built from Abu Dhabi. They are planned for 2012.

:D :D :D

Knight
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Dubai/Abu Dhabi Dec 20, 2007
I thought the return journey was not so bad. But there is not much to do or see in Abu Dhabi or did I miss something.

I thought some of the towns and mosques along the way looked quite nice. Also it seemed hotter in Abu Dhabi.
Paul Booth
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Re: Dubai/Abu Dhabi Dec 21, 2007
Paul Booth wrote:I thought the return journey was not so bad. But there is not much to do or see in Abu Dhabi or did I miss something.

I thought some of the towns and mosques along the way looked quite nice. Also it seemed hotter in Abu Dhabi.


The journey can be a bit boring apart from 'The Great Wall of Abu Dhabi'...the fence that protects the Sheikh Zayed Conservation area. Abu Dhabi does have some hidden secrets and is perceived as the administrative centre of the UAE, its just different to Dubai and not as hectic.

The temperature is normally 1 or 2 degrees different there due to the amount of greenery.

:D :D :D

Knight
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